Year of tumult
FEW will mourn the passing of 2022.
We said farewell to our beloved Queen, her historic final year blighted by her son Andrew’s shame and by grandson Harry airing his grievances for money.
In 2022 we said farewell to our beloved Queen
Russia under Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, slaughtering thousands of innocents
Russia invaded Ukraine, slaughtering thousands of innocents while upending global economies and sending inflation, bills and mortgages soaring.
Boris’s once-unassailable Government imploded — the Tories ousting him, imposing Liz Truss, then settling on Rishi Sunak. Their poll ratings look dire.
The NHS, crippled already by Covid, went into full meltdown. Strikes further hammered our shattered economy.
Some 40,000-plus migrants strolled illegally into Britain unimpeded. Our major roads were routinely paralysed by halfwits our cops appear too feeble to sling immediately into cells.
But it is easy to overlook some spectacular highs: Our Lionesses’ Euros glory. The men doing us proud in Qatar.
Our cricketers winning the T20 World Cup while reinventing the Test Match game and steamrollering all-comers.
The joy of Strictly, I’m A Celeb and Sam Ryder rocketing the UK up to second at Eurovision. Plus the relief that Covid looks all but over as a deadly threat (although it’s still sensible to insist on the testing of visitors from China).
We can comfort ourselves too that few had as bad a year as Vladimir Putin.
He thought his demented invasion would conquer Ukraine in days.
Instead he turned his country into a pariah, made President Zelensky a global hero, galvanised a divided West, convinced neutral nations to join Nato and ultimately proved Europe CAN survive without Russian energy. Yesterday gas prices fell to pre-invasion levels.
Let’s hope 2023 is worse still for the Kremlin monster. For the rest of us it can surely only be better.
Have a fantastic time tonight. A very happy New Year from HOAR.
A Sun star
CONGRATS to all worthy winners of New Year gongs, four Lionesses in particular.
Some big names richly deserve theirs. A few others boggle the mind. But one recipient no one could quibble with.
Deidre Sanders dedicated decades giving sage advice and compassionate help to countless people
“Dear Deidre” is a household phrase even among those who don’t read HOAR.
That alone bears witness to Deidre Sanders’ dedicated decades giving sage advice and compassionate help to countless people in need as our agony aunt.
We’ve always been proud of Deidre MBE. Now the nation is too.
Fraud focus
IT is sickening that £1million an hour has been lost to welfare fraud and errors.
In mitigation, the emergency Covid bailouts were unprecedented, vast and had to be rapid.
Even so it is disgusting so many fleeced the Universal Credit system and so few have been busted.
We must not let them get away with it.
