2019 and all that

The Chinese famously have a calendar which amuses the west – 2019 is the year of the pig, by the way - but more importantly, ignores it. During the Chinese New Year celebrations which officially run from February 5^th, until the 19^th in accordance with the lunar cycle, many businesses close down as celebrants pay homage to who they are, what they believe in and how they traditionally feast.

This year is the opportunity for we British to redefine our identity. In three short months we will see whether or not we have a strong enough belief in ourselves to force a recalcitrant establishment to do as bid. We will discover whether we have the resolve to come out as independent, or whether, as Remainers believe, we should be ashamed of ourselves and must cower before the might of faceless lever-pullers in Brussels. I’m not holding my breath, but this – despite all protestations otherwise – is why we voted for Brexit.

The last two and a half years have been an unending attempt to convince us otherwise with all the tricks of statecraft, economic prestidigitation and a ceaseless parade of lies and obfuscation brought to bear against a phenomenon they simply don’t understand. Don’t they realise that as much as anything else Brexit is about a rejection of all this chicanery? Among the noise, the one text that both sides have repeatedly used to explain society in 2018 is 1984.

Words can mean whatever you wish them to mean. ‘Lose’, for instance has become defined as ‘we weren’t really ready’. ‘Ever closer union’ really means ‘more rights for workers’. And ‘Withdrawal Agreement’, bizarrely, means ‘associate membership at twice the price with none of the rights’, as far as I can tell. Legal advice seems to advocate both for and against May’s capitulation, entirely depending on what you believed in the first place. We are truly in Newspeak territory here, where every ‘fact’ is also an anti-fact and every ‘truth’ a lie.

The real fireworks are yet to come...

As for New Year resolutions, like birthday candle wishes they rarely come true unless the intent and opportunity is already there, so I have no plan to realise any outlandish ambition, embark on an unfinishable project, or make any doomed predictions as to how the year will turn out. Instead I will simply reaffirm my basic rules for life in the light of recent events:

·         Following Gatwick dronegate and other misreported idiocies I resolve never to believe a mainstream news item ever again.

·         In similar vein I will question the motives and agenda of all news presenters and channels.

·         Until it happens I won’t believe Brexit will happen.

·         And as for work/life balance, it is around 80/20 at the moment. I’m sure, with a bit of effort, I can get that up to 90%!

Have a happy new year!