by Peter Watt
This is my final post for 2012 and inevitably I am therefore reflecting on the year just gone. It has been an incredible year for the country from the euphoria of the jubilee to the emotion and pride of the Olympics and Parlaympics. Sat in the Olympic park back in early August you could feel the optimism and the pride of all who were there. You could feel it on the trains and on the buses and in the streets as people enjoyed a sense of something shared that was good.
And it wasn’t just a London thing – I spent super Saturday watching Brazil versus Honduras in a packed St James’ Park and then watching the evening unfold on a giant screen in the heart of Newcastle. The mood was the same, and it felt great.
Once again across the country, families will have struggled to make sure that they had a good Christmas. They will have done all that they can to have a good time, to enjoy their time together, to party and to be optimistic. The queues at the Boxing day sales show that people want to spend if they can and no doubt we will all be hopeful as the clocks countdown to midnight on the 31st.
But sadly, reality will soon kick in. Because sitting behind all of the hope and optimism of the year are the hard economic truths of a flat-lining economy, flaky export markets, huge economic uncertainty in Europe, a weak financial services sector, and austerity in the public sector.
From early January families on modest incomes will lose child benefit, from April many will see their taxes rise as more are dragged into the 40% bracket. Other families will see their levels of tax credits fall relative to prices, or the amount of support that they get to help with their disability fall. Others will lose their jobs or have to reduce their hours. If you are young and unemployed then your chance of finding work will be slim, not much better if you are over 50. Fuel prices will continue to rise, food won’t become cheaper.
