Preflections , 3 January

I'm not sure whether preflections is a word, but it seemed to fit as I sat down to think about what's going on around us. We're not far enough into this year to reflect yet, and forecasts of any sort seem like vanity, so thinking about what might be emerging seems interesting for a couple of weeks until we get going, so preflections it is.

We're starting the year with what nearly five years ago the marginal majority of us voted for. We are out of Europe, and we have to make the best of it. As brutal reality replaces bluster, we do at least have a clearer base from which to work. In something of the same light, we also now have vaccine, but have yet to make it work in reality.

We face, I imagine, six months of effort to turn the huge achievement of the scientists into application on the ground and bring relief to those who have now had a year of improvisation, stress, long hours and sacrifice coping with the downsides of what capital deems "efficient" - minimum viable service supported b…