2009 was quite a year. Add together words such as Afghanistan, swine flu, floods, Fred the Shred; the arrival of Obama, Bolt and Twitter; the departure of Michael Jackson and Harry Patch – the rise of Susan Boyle, the fall of Woolies and you soon remember what a tumultuous year it was.
And what of the year ahead? 2010 is set to be equally challenging, despite the hangover of recession looming large. Three major subjects are likely to dominate the headlines: the general election, terrorism (Afghanistan) and sport.
First, the General Election. Whilst it is not expected until May, changes in election law, advances in communications, and a real chance Labour might finally lose will mean the traditional four week campaign is replaced with a four month blur of frenzied vote-grabbing activity. The 2010 elections are significant for other reasons.
Following the expenses scandal, more MPs are retiring than ever before which will mean there will be a larger influx of new MPs than at any time since the war. Not only that but the electorate has a real treat ahead with the televised leadership debates – a first for the UK.
Second, terrorism. Across the Atlantic, President Obama will give his first State of the Union Address where international terrorism is likely to feature significantly. His troops may be departing Iraq this year as their mandate expires, but with Yemen and Somalia gaining full membership of the state-sponsored terrorism club and Iran not playing ball, they may not be heading home just yet.
The future of Afghanistan, of course, concerns not just the US but the British too. The Wootton Bassett factor will continue to test the nation’s resolve to see out a difficult campaign, and this year things are likely to get worse before they get better.
Elsewhere in the world, aside from terrorism, Russia – a super power on the decline – will likely tweak its gas taps to Europe again to remind us of its importance. And China – a super power on the rise – may vent further frustration in response to being blamed for denying the world a workable deal on climate change.
Third, sport – for those worried about an overload of politics there will be plenty of sporting events to distract you. Canada will play host to the Winter Olympics in February (after which Boris will force the nation to hold its collective breath once again as he takes control of that Olympic torch and carries it to London).
And in June be prepared to see the nation distracted beyond reason as we drape ourselves and our cars with the flag of Saint George in the hope that Fabio Capello can fulfil a 44 year dream by guiding England’s football team to world cup success in South Africa. It is going to be an interesting year.
A final thought: 2010 is likely to end just as 2009 did with the nation fixated by the reality programmes ‘Strictly’ and the X Factor. Whilst Simon Cowell still has a grip over the music world, the power of Facebook and Twitter to scupper winner Joe McElderry’s Christmas No.1 is a lesson to all politicians in how easy it now is to influence public opinion on a national scale.
( 9 comments ) Tags: Afghanistan, football, swine flu, US elections
Comment by Paul Topham on January 6, 2010 at 7:23 pm
What the UK needs is someone like Obama. Someon who can see the real issues and offer real solutions.
What we need is Obama Politics. Clear and open, solution driven and focused on the needs of the people.
What we need is Obama Politics.
Paul
Comment by David Price on January 6, 2010 at 7:57 pm
I was beginning to despair of seeing some meaningful conservative policy but this caps it. 2009 for those of us not members of the Westminster gentleman’s club means a bit more than shallow TV and nasty foreign adventures. It includes redundancies and destroyed pensions, a government not willing to uphold the law, MP’s showing their contempt for the public in their behaviour over expenses alongside the subset of bankers who engaged in moral hazard. It includes a country being kept in an extended war few wanted from the start and betrayal of our sovereignty to the EU. It also includes a particularly nasty con game called “climate change” where politicians engaged in a groupthink orgy and agreed to give away our money to a bunch of other people for no clear reason, and markedly ignored any counter evidence whatsoever.
2010 looks as if it will be worse.
Please show that you lot are prepared for more meaningful activity than watching X Factor and Strictly. The country is being destroyed by the mob in power now, please demonstrate that you lot are deserving of the authority you will ask for at the election.
PS, a televised spite match between spinning candidates is in no way shape or form a “treat”.
Comment by Claire on January 6, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Michael Jackson king of pop, X Factor, Harry Patch, Susan Boyle, Blot, Twitter, Fabio Capello, ‘Strictly’, Joe McElderry’s, Christmas No.1, Winter Olympics, football team, Simon Cowell, facebook…
Please! can someone in the conservative party or labour party focus and take a grip on the real issues that matter to people – keep the economy growing and improve the political system.
Groden Brown has at least protected our banks and hence economy.
Thank you
Comment by Martin on January 6, 2010 at 8:57 pm
“Eric Pickles says we need a General Election now, as divisions increase within the Labour Party.”
Is Eric the chairperson of your party? Do you folks want to win on the base of your policies and capabilities or the base of some internal issues and differences within another party.
If we have an election next week, do you think that the Conservative Party has sufficiently communicated its strategy to people? Will the election be worth anything and help the UK people?
Is it not better to connect with the people and communicate your strategy and then hold an election. This election is too important for parties not to first outline their policies and approach.
Comment by Chris D on January 7, 2010 at 5:20 pm
“2010 is likely to end with the nation fixated by Strictly and the X factor”…….I think the nation will have a lot more unpleasant things to fixate them by then, Mr. E; you make light of a very serious situation with regard to the UK’s economy, sovereignty and massive debt. Claire’s comments above are very sound (although I don’t agree about Gordon Brown protecting the economy because he couldnt care less about British workers or anything else British).
This blog entry demonstrates little other than a passing nod to the real issues and fervent involvement in dross TV entertainment that will do nothing for people when the hardships really hit.
Comment by Vic Gilks on January 7, 2010 at 6:47 pm
Lets get dynamic, we are too bland at present. We need more steel and clear actions.cashtown
Comment by Bournemouth on January 7, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Both sides of politics seem to have surrendered to showbiz these days. I see little above to disprove that.
BB
Comment by Bob Carr on January 9, 2010 at 10:35 am
Elections are frequently won on rhetoric rather than on policies. Rhetoric helps the man in the street grasp an essential truth about the situation from a readily understood image. Policies just go over his head.
The most important problem facing the nation is the debt mountain that Gordon Brown has accrued to save us from the long term effect of his mismangement of the economy.
This can be expressed more succinctly by David Cameron if he uses some scouse imagery.
In Liverpool, if you are down on your luck, a friend will often ask “have you got a good rent-book?”, meaning: “are you up to date, so that you can delay payments on the rent for a few months until your fortunes turn around.”
David might ask the Prime minister if in his opinion, the nation “has a good rent book”. Of course he knows the answer.
There is no “fat” there. No surplus good will that we can bank on until the good times come back. We are up against it and the Rent Collector is at the door.
Everyone knows the importance of “having a good Rent Book”. Except Gordon Brown.
Now thats an image that will strike a chord amongst the working people of this country.
Comment by Russell Adams on January 11, 2010 at 9:22 pm
Like others above I am concerned that the Conservative Party will not be sufficiently radical or bold enough in these troubled, challenging and changing times. The world economic situation is still very fragile and probably much more fragile than most of us know or imagine. The world power base situation is changing, I don’t know where it is heading but America’s power is waning and this will happen quicker than anyone expects, military might is becoming less relevant and economic power will look completely different in 5 to 10 years time probably with China, India and Africa having far more importance.
So, as a general comment we need to reinforce responsibility, both the taking of it and apportioning of it accurately and in government and within industry and the general public. We also need to be much clearer on where we are going and how we are going to get there.
Here are the first of some of my views on the challenges we face and some of the policies we need, to pull ourselves out of our current situation and through to a position of strength in the future.
DEFENCE
We should make clear that we are proud of our armed forces and remind everybody that our armed forces go where they are told to by government but they execute their duties by their own standards excellently with diligence and honour. We also need a promise that we will not send our troops on an assignment without the correct, if not best, equipment and resources to undertake the assignment.
We should continue to be a military player on the world stage in keeping with our financial status and historical past and for the benefit of our economy and to protect those less able to do so. We should stop being a lap dog to the USA and come up with our own policies and promote those policies to generate other countries agreement such that we can move forward with sensible policies in harmony with the world.
More specifically we should make clear that we will not interfere with nation states again unless explicitly asked to do so by the incumbent government. If we wish to deal with despotic leaders we should do this with general agreement of all nations and in particularly with the agreement of the countries in the area in question and then through diplomatic methods and sanctions, understanding that the sanctions need to be sufficiently precise that they impact on the leaders to be punished and not the general population.
On Afghanistan, as an example, force will not work, it did not work in Northern Ireland, or Vietnam and it will not work there. I cannot believe we are sending in more troops in the vain hope we can beat them. You cannot beat a country or a large percentage of its population into submission, all we will do is increase our opposition. We would not like a foreign power imposing marshal law on us so why do we believe any other country will accept it.
The troubles in Afghanistan exist for good reasons and we need to better understand them. We will then be in a better position to provide the resources to remove as many of those reasons as possible and then work on a compromise agreement with all the parties involved, however long it takes, so they can live peacefully together and force is not necessary. This also has the obvious benefit of not destabilising other areas sympathetic with the indiginous people.