Don't forget to Chew
At the beginning of 2024 I set myself the task of writing a weekly round up of interesting news, industry reports, useful podcasts and things I’ve come across that might not only be of use to me, in a futile bid to keep me engaged on this flawed but unfortunately essential platform.
Did I keep up the pace for the relentless pursuit of information and content to provide sustenance and succour for the grey matter of passing readers?
No.
I only managed 26 editions, which keen mathematicians will tell you averages out at one edition every two weeks. If this was an actual KPI it would be RIP for me.
I suppose I could rename this newsletter the Bi Weekly Chew, but I can’t have it both ways, can I? ?
I have managed to gather together a hardy band of 141 fanatics who are subscribed to this newsletter, which is more than Jesus managed. But since its so close to His birthday I will concede that he didn’t have the advantage of social media algorithms back in… checks notes… the year 32AD. Simpler times.
I did at least manage to write enough newsletters to be able to do a round up of this slog of a year.
January
The year kicked off with the nation transfixed with the heroics of 16 year old dart chucker Luke Littler who marched all the way to the PDC World Darts Championship final. A complete unknown outside of darts, I imagine the marketing team at Prestige Building Supplies in Rochdale who chose to sponsor Luke for the tournament have been dining out on that stroke of luck all year.
Meanwhile, an ITV drama on the Post Office Sub-postmasters scandal shone a bright light on years of institutional dishonesty and the crippling effects on people who were made to feel alone and unsupported for so many years.
The inquiry into the scandal has only just come to a close this week, with former CEO and Church of England Vicar Paula Vennells still trying to play the innocent lamb.
News stories that slowly hone into view and then dominate the news agenda has been a recurring theme of 2024...
February
The noise from the construction sector during the bad weather and forecasts of February offered a sure sign that under the patched-up dead men waffling Conservative government that the country had ground to a halt.
House builders had basically downed tools, key skills shortages in building control was about to cripple council's ability to sign off on houses.
There was a palpable sense that nothing in the country worked anymore, and we are all paying through the nose for the privelige of it.
The UK officially falling into recession confirmed it.
Labour were on course for an election win, whenever it was called, but their over cautious approach wasn't lighting the fire in anyone's belly.
March
The arrival of Co-Op Live in Manchester could not be described as smooth. The owners of Manchester's newest mega arena rattled cages in town hall meetings, with local residents and the then Managing Director of the venue picked fights with small independent venues. In Manchester. He might as well have stood on Albert Square with a sandwich board saying 'You're all dicks; debate me'.
In other news, despite the Government’s best efforts the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) reported that the UK’s net zero economy grew by 9% in 2023.
Thousands of new green companies were founded in 2023 and overall the sector was responsible for the production of ￡74bn in goods and services and 765,000 jobs.
Excitingly, these jobs are not concentrated in just one region of the UK, AND are benefitting some of the most deprived areas in the country. Almost like a case study on how Net Zero goes hand in hand with real levelling up and upskilling of our workforce.
Looking back now, this may be the basis for Labour's bullishness on some very steep net zero and energy targets.
April
The Tories were trounced in two by-elections in true blue rural seats, due to the conduct of the sitting MPs, they were on course for a thumping in local elections and rumours were swirling from 'those in the know' that Sunak would announce a date for an autumn or even winter election....
May
Sunak did indeed announce an election.... for July! The 'man with a plan' announced a general election in the rain without an umbrella, having already told his own MPs it was clear to book their summer holidays, and a beleagured and underfunded set of local Conservative groups completely unprepared for a general election campaign so soon after the local elections. What could go wrong?
Meanwhile a visit for me to UK Construction Week threw up the huge contradiction of a number of panel sessions bemoaning the lack of young talent in the sector, alongside exhibition stands from sunshine soaked regions around the globe, including Western Australia, offering excellent visa schemes for young people looking for an adventure rather than a job.
June
Rishi Sunak became 'the man with other plans' when he decided to shoot off early from the commemoration of the D-Day Landings, on its 80th Anniversary, just to go and talk to ITV and set the record straight on a previous faux-pas in one of the stupidest election campaigns I've ever seen.
Meanwhile, wolf in wolf's clothing Nigel Farage continued to prove that the only thing that sticks to him is milkshake residue, batting off a series of accusations from the construction sector that he doesn't know what he's talking about after making some wild claims on immigration levels in construction.
During a feisty ‘how dare you ask me that’ interview on the Today Programme, Farage said “we literally don’t need any” construction workers to come to the UK from abroad, adding that “physical, manual labour” is unskilled and we simply cannot go on with an exploding population the way it is.
He doesn't know what he's talking about, it's never his fault, and the guy has to be stopped politicially, as it looks like heart disease won't do it for us.
July
It has since been forgotten, but Labour won a historic 174 seat majority which was of great shock to some, relief to others and a bit of everything for Kay Burley on Sky News:
Goodbye to a generational group of gaslighting, inneffective, self serving bastards that have defined the decline of the UK at home and abroad for a decade.
Hello to a new generation of.... well, we'll find out soon enough.
August
领英推荐
As Harold Macmillan once said 'events dear boy'. No sooner had MP's finally gone off on holiday that tragedy struck in Southport, with the deaths of three children at the hands of a lunatic sparking a wave of violent anger fuelled by disinformation on social media and not helped by politicians who knew exactly what they were doing.
The events really exposed the strain the UK state is currently under just to deal with every day crime, disorder and social decay - never mind when riots involving hundreds of people is thrown into the mix.
Looking for positives, with the new government now in place it was striking to me that the majority of Cabinet Ministers were state-educated, and the first Cabinet for a while with a significant portion of minister of state from Northern constituency seats.
At the time of writing this I counted 12 of 26 strong cabinet with constituencies in the big Northern cities and their conurbations:
?
???????????? Lucy Powell, Manchester Central
???????????? Sir Alan Campbell, Tynemouth
???????????? Lisa Nandy, Wigan
???????????? Bridget Phillipson, Sunderland South
???????????? Hilary Benn Leeds South
???????????? Jonathan Reynolds Stalybridge and Hyde
???????????? Louise Haigh, Sheffield Heeley (Although she didn't last long...)
???????????? John Healey, the Rawmarsh and Conisbrough constituency found in Rotherham
???????????? Ed Miliband, Doncaster North
???????????? Yvette Cooper, Pontefract Castleford and Knottingley
???????????? Rachel Reeves, Leeds West
???????????? Angela Rayner, Ashton Under Lyne
I still maintain that alongside Labour holding 10 out of 11 regional mayor seats, this could truly be a government that can deliver in the North, with a firm grasp of what is needed to unlock the long spoken of economic potential of the city regions outside of London and the south east.
September
Confidence in the ability of the construction sector to deliver has taken some severe blows during 2024, none more so than in September.
First of all, there was another fire in a London tower block going through remediation work in Dagenham. Mercifully, there were no casualties, but 80 people were evacuated in the middle of the night.
Early indicators are suggesting that the fire was spread due to flammable building materials being stored on scaffolding, according to the The Institution of Fire Engineers . Negligence or incompetence? It doesn’t really matter, seven years on from Grenfell it shouldn't still be happening.
Secondly, there was a scathing report on the standard of new homes and customer service from housebuilders on the BBC website.
Bellway Homes were dragged through the mud, but not as much as their long-suffering customers in Bassingbourn Fields, in Fordham, Cambridgeshire.
Third, and most importantly, the publishing of the Grenfell Inquiry report on Wednesday 4th September should provide a watershed moment for the industry:
October
Our 24 hour news cycles and RESPOND TO ME NOW addictions to news by social media means that many people are already frustrated and out of faith with Starmer's government, less than six months in to a five year term in office.
While the October Budget caused howls of rage as Labour cops for the misadventures of Truss' mini budget and a mis-managed pandemic, there have been a series of announcements that set the path for the coming generation including the announcement of ￡22bn investment in carbon capture technology projects on Teesside and Merseyside.
This might be a gamble in the technology, but the government is already betting on the regions that need a financial boost in the coming years.
November
American voters hit the 'f*ck it' button and reelected Donald Trump to the presidency.
During a year that the international community has singularly failed to prevent further widespread and relentless bloodshed in Isreal/Palestine and Ukraine, Trump's appointment is another massive headache.
Trump did a lot to antagonise America's enemies as well as his own intelligence services during his first term, from kissing the ring of Putin, holidaying with Kim Jong Un to drone striking Iranian generals minding their own business, and drawing a bloody line in the sand by placing the US Israel embassy in the heart of Jerusalem, a diplomatic no-no.
Trump is an unbalancing presence on the international community, and his whims and those of the people he chooses to surround himself with could have the biggest ramifications in the coming 12 months.
December
It wouldn't be Christmas with a story of hope among the chaos and brutality of Middle East politics. The very quick fall of President Assad and his chicken-shit run to Moscow is another unbalancing force that is helping to move the chess pieces on the geo-political map. The fall of Assad could have repercussions not only in the Middle East, but in parts of Africa including Sudan where Russian backed mercenaries are at work and in Iran which is already under the strain of its war with Israel arriving on its own front door.
What do these events hold in store for the UK? Its further unpredictability at a time when we could do with some calm waters to repair the ship. I don't think we'll be afforded it.
Happy Christmas, and may you live in interesting times.