Predictions for 2011

January

Labour win the Oldham East and Saddleworth By-election by more than the 103 votes garnered at the General Election.

Ivory Coast descends into civil war.

The January sales fail to get off the ground come 4th January. The psychological impact is to much for most consumers. Small independent retailers begin reporting losses, as do a few larger retailers.

February

India win the Cricket World Cup, beating England by 46 runs in the final.

March

RPI hits 8%. Bank of England panics and increase the base rate from 0.5% to 1%. Home-owners feel the sting and restrict their consumption on non-necessary items.

The Unions march on London. Anarchists get involved. The Police retaliate with water cannons. Theresa May sanctions the use of rubber bullets. 3 people die.

George Osborne releases his budget and eases the cuts previously delivered in June and October of 2010 in an effort to increase private consumption.

April

The Royal Wedding is disrupted by angry protesters demanding a Republic. Charles declares his abdication to appease the protesters. The Nation mourns the loss of a King they never had.

Afghanistan escalates and Pakistan is formally dragged in to the conflict. The threat to Pakistan increases Nuclear Tension. Doomsday Clock is moved forward to 4 minutes to Midnight.

May

Labour clean up in the local elections. Tories make some advances. All at the expense of the Lib Dems.

The country votes No to AV as most people don’t care and link it to the Lib Dems anyway.

North Korea crosses the De-Militarized Zone. China steps in to avert warfare. Doomsday Clock moved to 3 minutes to Midnight. World is on the brink of a nuclear catastrophe.

June

Spain’s credit rating is reduced to Junk Status. EU and IMF bailout commences. Portugal defaults on its debt.  Markets panic and the  Western world dips back into recession.

Hottest June since records began.

July

America begins an isolationist strategy after the attempted assassination of President Obama and the shock of the Sovereign Debt Crisis. Grain prices (and thus food prices) sky rocket.

EU pushes for further political and economic unity in the wake of America’s isolation and the Sovereign Debt Crisis. Britain has no choice but to accept.

Wettest July since records began. Floods are common place

August

Six Nation talks finally resolve the Korean War. The Korean Peninsula is reunited. The Doomsday clock is moved back to 5 minutes to Midnight. China becomes the new Hyper-Power.

September

The Coalition is experiencing division due to what has happened over the summer recess. Labour capitalise as Ed Miliband has finally found his footing. 15 Lib Dem MPs leave the Coalition and the Lib Dems – reforming the SDP. The remaining Lib Dems are effectively absorbed into the Conservative Party.

October

The British Parliament begins legislating for Gay Marriage and Straight Civil Partnerships. Private Members Bill from a Tory Backbencher.

November

Ken Clarke suffers a stroke and retires from politics. Very sad day. Progress made in the Justice system is reversed as a hard-liner takes his post.

December

Coldest Winter since records began.

Christmas is spent with friends and family. Little is spent on gifts. Homemade becomes the new black.

Growing resentment with Ed Miliband within the Labour Party and Unions for lack of action through the year despite his capitalisation on September’s events.

Protests, Anarchists and the Police

The regrettable problem with Police and the Media is that they are always portrayed as the ‘bad’ guys. When in fact, most of the time, the are responding force for force against a very small minority whose sole purpose in life is to cause trouble! I am, of course, referring to the protests outside Parliament concerning the tuition fee proposals by the Coalition Government. The vast majority of those attending were students and peaceful. However the ‘peaceful’ protesters were standing between the Police and those that were aggravating the situation by throwing bottles etc at the Police. Peaceful Demonstrations are only peaceful when Anarchists and various other trouble makers no longer rear their ugly heads.

I do not condone the actions of a select few members of the Met, but the Met are the shock troops of the Police Service, just like the Paras are the shock troops of the British Army. I think the Police are struggling to come to terms with a change in guidelines. Gone are the days when they were a Police FORCE, now they are a Police SERVICE. Two very different things. A Force suggests using force to uphold the law, whereas a Service suggests working with the community etc to uphold the law. There are more examples of the Police being a service than a force, yet the Media will always prey upon the Police when they deviate from their intended service purpose.

Recently, there was research done on the public view of the Police and it wasn’t favourable at all. The majority of the public have lost faith and trust in the Police. When the Media starts celebrating the achievements of the Police Service, rather than condemning the mistakes of the Police Force, then progress will be made towards restoring the faith and trust in the Police.

Boycott or Protest?

As the Government cuts hit home and people begin feeling the ‘pinch’ and adjust their consumption patterns accordingly, there is a lot of anger in the country towards the Government and tax evaders and avoiders – such as Philip Green of the Arcadia Group.

Recently there have been protests against the Government’s cuts to education, and the decision to increase tuition fees, a bricking up of the entrance to a Vodafone Store and protests outside the Topshop on Oxford Street. These are some of the high profile protests around the country emannating the dissatisfaction with the ‘unfair’ situation many now find themselves in.

Protests are a useful tool for raising concerns about a particular issue loudly and quickly. However, for a long lasting contribution to the wider issue it falls dismaly short of the desired effect.

Proactive engagement does work, but it is often difficult to enter into discussion with one or all of the parties concerned.

Boycotts, though not applicable to everything, do produce a desired outcome. Money speaks louder than words – so take your custom elsewhere and, if a large proportion follow suit, the party concerned will begin listening.

Boycotts helped bring down the Apartheid regime in South Africa, they can help in getting tax avoiders and evaders to pay their tax too.