So farewell 2022, another bad year

When did we last have a good year to look back on? The last three have been dire, 2022 no less so than 2021 or 2020. The UK has had a ridiculous political pantomime year with three different prime ministers. Out went Boris Johnson in sort of disgrace, out went Liz Truss after a whirlwind of misjudgments and wild economic policies and then in came Rishi Sunak who has been one of the quietest leaders in living memory. We know he is there in 10 Downing Street but what is he actually doing? We have yet to find out. Meanwhile everyone who normally makes our lives easier and safer - nurses, train drivers, ambulance drivers etc - are on strike. So the year ends with a general sense of doom, doom and more doom for this country. Putin's outrageous invasion of Ukraine was the worst event of the year and I will probably say the same thing at the end of 2023 because the war will still be going on in one form or another. Huge decisions on global climate change were supposed to herald a better world for us all and for future generations but nothing is being properly implemented and in many areas there have been setbacks thanks to Putin's war and his attempt to blackmail if not ruin his European neighbours by stopping the flow of natural gas as a punishment for Europe's support for Ukraine. Climate-change disasters have hit so many parts of the world that it has become a regular slot on the evening news to hear about catastrophic floods and tsunamies and wild fires and record hot weather. One of the worst aspects of 2022 has been the realisation that the world does not have the quality of political leaders needed to address all these problems. We all think we could do better than the leaders we have elected. For example, as soon as Beijing announced that it was lifting the ban on its nationals travelling abroad despite a huge upsurge in Covid infections across China, we, the sensible people, all must have had the same thought. Please stop them coming unless they have had Covid tests. But, apart from the US, Italy, Japan and India, it took many more days before other governments, including the one residing in Number 10 Downing Street, began to consider whether it might possibly be sensible to follow suit. The UK government said no, then maybe, then reviewing the possibility, then ok we will. No proper leadership. Zero. Meanwhile the planes have been flying in. No one in leadership positions in this country gives me the remotest confidence that they know what they are doing with the economy to make it go forward instead of backwards. Everyone talks of imminent recession but is anyone doing anything to prevent it happening? No, they and the Bank of England are just resigned to it. God help us. So 2022 was a depressing year. I see little hope for optimism for 2023. Sorry to end the year in a black mood.