Advent thoughts

We are now in the midst of Advent. Advent marks the start of the Church's year and is the precursor to Christmas as we wait. Advent is also a low period, a period of reflection and the church marks this in the same way it marks the 40 days of Lent. So what is there to reflect on this advent:

The economy

There is not a lot you can add about the sorry state of our economy. I was a young child during the end of the last Labour Government and I remember spending advent huddled around candles during nthe frequent black outs during the winter of discontent. As a kid it was quite exciting - it was advent after all- but the fact was that for our country it was an utter disaster and soon after the Labour Government was thrown out. This had been preceded by the then Labour Chancellor running to the IMF to beg for money to bail them out. Well, there are two differences now; firstly the IMF does not have enough money to bail us out and secondly we are not having power cuts. However, the really difficult thing is that our economy is in greater peril than it was then and, like then, Labour has borrowed more than we can possibly afford to pay back.

Zimbabwe

There are three international issues that the world needs to face up to. The first of those is Zimbabwe. We cannot let Mugabe stay in power and the UN needs to find resolutions that will enable him still to withdraw from the precipice. If not, then I fear a humanitarian issue that will darken the next year.

A new President

Th other two international issues are ones that Obama is going to have to deal with and the world watches to see whether he has the will to add to his rhetoric. The problems are Iran and Russia. The fact is Russia is building its military forces and looking acquisitively towards the Arctic as it next source of natural resources through which it can hold the world to ransom. The importance of economic power is being replaced by the importance of the power of energy.

Personal thoughts

This has been a tough year. Business has been tough and the attempts to sell my house to move to the Yeovil constituency have proved impossible. You currently appear not to be able to sell houses at any price. The real problem is that no one wishes to buy houses at the moment - or at least they don't have the money to buy. But through all this I remain optimistic about the New Year. Economically we may be suffering but personally I feel fitter and more able to cope with the future challenges than ever before.

Still, let us forget the gloom for the Christmas period and look forward with hope.

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