A new year begins here...

It’s funny really, but 2020 has been a bit of a mixed year. Yes, we’ve had the pandemic, which has been awful in the generality, and we’ve finally left the European Union which, whilst traumatic, will only really impact in the months and years ahead, but on a personal note, neither has had an obviously negative impact yet.

I’ve been working from home since 18 March which, at the beginning, was not something I had looked forward to with unalloyed pleasure. I’m kind of institutionalised, having worked for the same organisation, in the same context, for well over thirty years, and working on my own offered some personal challenges. Would I be able to maintain the discipline without supervision, would I have enough to do given the structures and methodologies that had previously constrained my work?

It turned out that the problem would, for the most part, be solved for me. The Job Retention Scheme kept me busy for a while, and I learned how to use webchat software to answer questions before moving on to contact centre work, offering technical advice to employers and explaining to unhappy employees why we couldn’t just furlough them ourselves.

After that, it was time to switch to the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, helping those without internet access to apply, and dealing with those who were unable to self-verify - basically those without U.K. passports or driving licences and without a credit history here. It was, occasionally, entertaining, often complicated, especially when dealing with Eastern Europeans whose English, whilst far better than my grasp of any of their languages, struggled with the legalese of grant applications.

The most difficult cases were those where the potential applicant wasn’t eligible. In many cases, they already knew that, but wanted to hear it for themselves from a genuine human being. Some of the cases demonstrated genuine hardship, but without the discretion to make exceptions, and knowing that their calls were being recorded, all that could be done was to give them an honest explanation, point them towards local council grant schemes and universal credit, and give thanks that you weren’t in their position.

And now, I’m kind of back to the day job. That’s more complex than it sounds, especially now that nearly all of us are in Tier 4. Face to face meetings are difficult at best, obtaining records for examination is challenging and disruption is everywhere. How that changes in 2021 is still not entirely clear - to me at least.

I’ve been, at times, a bit disenchanted by party politics. I’m a liberal democrat, undoubtedly. I’m still a Liberal Democrat too, albeit a somewhat more distant one these days. Shortly, I will cease to hold any formal position in the Party, partly due to the democratic process (which I’m entirely relaxed about), and partly due to creative differences. I’ve made the odd contribution, but in truth my attention has strayed towards the third tier of local government.

I didn’t have much ambition beyond the borders of Creeting St Peter, and was expecting to stand down as Chair in May, but the pandemic rather interfered with that. The autumn saw me fill two new positions merely by being the only person to show an interest - the story of my political career to a great extent. And so, I serve on the Board of the Suffolk Association of Local Councils and as the Suffolk representative on the National Assembly of the National Association of Local Councils - our equivalent of the Local Government Association. I’m still slightly shellshocked if truth be told.

There’s no time to rest on my laurels though. We have a rather daunting planning application due this month for a vast business and logistics park, as well as a proposed expansion of the concrete products factory at Grove Farm. Neither will be popular, and our influence is limited. But, we must try to do our best for residents, and we will.

I am an evil step grandfather too. More virtual than actual, due to the pandemic, but nevertheless I have a role, which mostly consists of smiling warmly and saying how adorable Eleanor is. This, it turns out, is very easy...

But the biggest change in 2020 was in the amount of time Ros and I spent together. You see, we’re used to being apart a fair bit, given that she’s normally in London during the week, and I’m not. There was, I guess, the possibility that I might drive her crazy, but that didn’t happen, which was nice. We’ve been there to help each other through the occasional low points, as well as learning to appreciate a rather simpler life of good food, country walks and our home. It isn’t particularly complicated, but it works for us.

And so, to 2021. I’m expecting to get my first vaccine dose in May or thereabouts, although given the Government’s propensity to make any task so much more hapless than one might imagine, I won’t hold my breath.

A happy New Year to you, gentle reader, and stay safe...

The beginning of another year arrives, so what do I do with it?

After more than a decade of being deeply engaged with all things Liberal Democrat, I find myself entering a new year with surprisingly little responsibility. Term limits meant that my time as a member of the ALDE Party’s Financial Advisory Committee came to an end in October after eight satisfying years, and I lost my place on Federal International Relations Committee which, given how surprised I was to have been elected to it in the first place, came as no great shock. At least I lost to some good people...

What this means is that I only hold one formal role as a Liberal Democrat, that of the East of England member of the Appeals Board for England which, whilst not something which takes up a lot of my time, is quite onerous when my services are required. I do have three Returning Officer jobs to deliver in the New Year, but they shouldn’t detain me for too long, and there is my day editorship of Liberal Democrat Voice, which, if I let it, could expand to fill the time newly available to me.

There is a danger, therefore, that I rush headlong into some new role. And that would probably be a mistake, as there are things in the rest of my life which possibly merit more attention.

I could make some New Year resolutions, but why make commitments out of a sense of duty when it would be better to make changes because they would improve my life and that of those close to me. Besides, change should be organic rather than regimented.

So, I think that I’ll leave 2020 uncommitted for the time being. There’s much to look forward to, and much that would be better avoided.

The dinner jacket gets another airing...

I am not the suit wearing type - traditionally, I do not look good in suits due to the minor detail that I'm carrying far too much weight to look anything other than vaguely uncomfortable. However, as the weight has come off, I've revisited that a bit.

Who is this glamorous stranger?

Simultaneously, I've found myself doing a few more formal black tie events - Needham Market's Barrandov Opera, for example. And when the opportunity came to attend a gala dinner at our hotel on New Year's Eve, I grabbed the chance to give the old dinner jacket an airing.

There was one catch - my weight loss means that my dinner jacket, and the matching trousers, were a bit on the big side. Rummaging through my wardrobe, in the area invisibly marked "if you think that you'll find anything here that fits...", I discovered my old, but still perfectly wearable dinner jacket, from my slimmer days, and that it fit rather well. Replacement trousers weren't a problem either.

And so, after our adventures in Grindlewald, we returned to the hotel in good time to change for dinner. First up was a champagne reception as, despite my diet, it seemed a shame to eschew a glass or two, especially as we did, if I say so myself, brush up quite well...

And as for this even more
glamorous stranger...

An excellent meal followed, courtesy of the hotel's rather good chef, with a decent bottle of Sauvignon Vaudois (I always like to try local wines, and you aren't likely to go far wrong in a good hotel...). The company of my lovely wife, who is looking more lovely by the day, I must say, was the final adornment to a fine evening.

We're not necessarily huge New Year's Eve people, and having discovered that, in Interlaken at least, not much happens on the night itself, I left Ros for a little while and went for a post-dinner stroll in a cold, and almost deserted town. It seems that the locals save themselves for New Year's Day itself and, at 10.30 on New Year's Eve, there was no sign of life.

So, one asks, what happened the next day?...

A bureaucrat sees in another New Year...

So, another year has begun, and there are resolutions to make, goals to set, that sort of thing. Or, in my case, not. I'm not really that good at resolutions - willpower is not one of my historic strengths, and it really shouldn't need an arbitrary date to convince me to start on a new quest.

But where does the beginning of 2017 find this particular liberal bureaucrat, apart from the Swiss Alps?

I'm forty pounds lighter than I was this time last year, which equates to about four inches around the waist and an inch at the collar. I walked 10,000 steps every day except three in 2016 - I was struck down with food poisoning in Cuba, which rather left me too weak to drag myself off of the sofa of our hotel room. But, since 17 February, every day has seen me complete my steps, come what may.

My wardrobe has become a mite more lively, and I've become a little more comfortable in myself. I've even joined a gym, which may be the spur towards further fitness improvements in 2017. I'm also somewhat happier in my work, which I'm still not really supposed to tell you about, as I gain more experience, which is in itself reassuring.

So, in summary, 2016 was pretty good, setting quite a high bar for 2017. It would be nice to continue the progress towards a rather sharper bureaucrat in the coming year, but we'll take that one step at a time, as they say.

Watch this space...

In the meantime, a very happy New Year to you all!

So, welcome to 2016...

As those you who know Ros and I on Facebook may have noticed, we saw in the New Year somewhat more dressed up than usual (certainly for me, at any rate...), at the Pier at Harwich. And yes, it was very nice, and I didn't drink too much champagne, and behaved like a moderately sensible person (but not too sensible, after all, there are standards to be maintained...).

It was nice to see that a lot of people seemed to be enjoying the New Year come in too, including my far-flung family, who cover twenty-one time zones. Indeed, I spent some time this morning online with my cousin Kim, in Auckland, catching up on family affairs, which was nice too.

Apparently, New Year's Day is a day for resolutions - I will do this, won't do that, you know the drill - but I don't have any in mind this time. Given my fairly catastrophic failure rate for resolutions in the past, that's probably a good thing.

But 2016 will be a busy year, with the wedding of my stepson Jamie to his partner Bethany scheduled for the autumn, and Ros off to who knows where in her capacity as an ALDE Vice-President (I may have to accompany her, you know, because...). Work will doubtless be busy, because it should be, and even though we don't have council elections here, planning for 2017 is already underway, so there'll be more liberal democracy to do.

The new country for the year will be Lithuania, as the Spring ALDE Council meeting will take place there. That will be country number sixty in my effort to visit more countries than I have had birthdays. Compared to the likes of Jonathan Fryer, however, I am a mere amateur...

So, 2016 beckons. With a likely European referendum in the autumn, it is unlikely to be dull politically, even if the tension caused by the closeness of the polls will be unsettling, both personally and for the British economy. As an investor, albeit on a small scale, I am risk-averse for the most part. The future status of the United Kingdom within the European Union wouldn't necessarily encourage me to invest. I can only hope that I am in a minority in that respect.

Time then, to buckle up for another rollercoaster of a year. Let's just hope that the result isn't as grim for my beliefs as 2015 was...