LOOKING BACK on 2024, it was far from predictable. It was also further from being stable, prosperous or even slightly positive for millions across the world. While trying not to convey a sense of retrospective doom or paraphrase Karl Marx, a spectre of authoritarianism, underpinned by the failed ideology of socialism, swept across Britain.
For the first time in a generation, the Labour Party, elected on the promise to make the lives of the public better, entered Downing Street with significant aplomb. Fundamentally, a series of failed Conservative governments, claiming to cut taxes and reduce spending while doing the exact opposite, made this an inevitability.
Despite numerous warnings from outside of the legacy media, the public and the commentariat are quickly becoming aware of the dangers of Sir Keir Starmer and his ill-equipped cabinet. It only took a few moments in power for a major donations scandal to rock the upper echelons of the party and not much longer for a disastrous first Budget to alienate almost the entirety of the country.
Whether you are a small business, a pensioner or a farmer, Rachel Reeves and the Prime Minister have left you worse off in 2024 than you were before, and the general sentiment among these groups is that they were already struggling.
Beyond the UK, conflict continued to rage in the Middle East and Ukraine. It appears as though European leaders and the incumbent US President were doing all that was possible to prolong and deepen this crisis. Whether it be failing to turn off the endless supply of money to Ukraine or the authorization of the use of western-made missiles, European leaders show no sign of attempting to stop a war that is crippling the continent.
However, it is not just European foreign policy that is falling flat on its face. The disintegration of Europe is happening in front of our very eyes, as leaders fail to get a grip on huge issues, such as economic instability and mass migration. No wonder, then, that the public voted in many other parts of Europe for traditional conservative parties, in an attempt to wrestle back the control they felt had been lost.
While this glimmer of hope looks promising for 2025, the most significant development that many predicted, though few forsaw the enormity of, was the re-election of Donald Trump to the Whtie House. Even in the closing days, and largely contrary to logical thinking, Kamala Harris looked neck and neck in the polls with the former President, having replaced a feeble candidate and making some progress towards a potentially promising election campaign.
Despite this, Donald Trump did what Donald Trump does best and connected with the American voters on issues that truly matter to them. Ending the war in Ukraine and stopping the endless supply of money was coupled with a strong and completely necessary package to roll back on the mass illegal immigration that had been blighting the socio-economic outlook of the country.
Last year, there was not much to be thankful for. It marked another year where millions across the West still felt the impact of the disastrous handling of the pandemic, and was underlined by impotent political leadership. However, if you look closely, cracks of light are beginning to emerge. More must be done across the West to ensure that these open up into a window of opportunity.
