“HAPPY new year or so the refrain goes” … well, sorry, but fuck that! 

As a socialist, I have always believed socialism and optimism go hand in hand — you have to believe that tomorrow will be better than today. If you don’t then you’d be better pulling the covers over your head and staying in bed for the rest of your days. But as we enter 2025 my lifelong optimistic outlook that believes a better world is indeed possible is at an all-time low ebb. My God, it is difficult to be positive just now: locally, nationally and internationally the political landscape is desperately bleak. 

In our local communities public services have been hollowed out by 40 years of free-market orthodoxy and a decade-and-a half of savage austerity, budget cuts, centralisation, frozen council tax and the depoliticisation of local government. Social care is in crisis, youth work has all but disappeared, our roads and footpaths are in a dangerous state of disrepair and every council service is in a worse state than a decade ago. School class sizes are up, violence is at record levels and more than a third of children are regularly missing school.