I hope that you’ve had a good and relaxing Christmas and that you have been able to spend some time with your loved ones. I also hope that for those of who haven’t been able to see your loved ones, for whatever reason – whether it is illness, distance, work commitments or the weather – you have been able to have at least speak or communicate in some way.
At this time of year, I also want to pay particular tribute to those servicemen and women, who are serving in hostile and dangerous conditions on behalf of our country. There are many families in Hartlepool who are apart from sons, husbands, boyfriends and fathers who are serving in the Armed Forces. Christmas and New Year must inevitably feel empty without them. The bravery and dedication are recognised by the whole country, and I hope that will provide some comfort, as well as enormous pride to those families.
It’s now the time of year when people assess the year that’s gone and look forward to the year that’s only a few days away. I think that 2010 has been a significant year: this country has seen a general election which brought in the first peacetime coalition government for 90 years. We are still suffering from the impact of the deepest global recession that the world has seen since the 1930s, and the negative connotations that this has in terms of collapsing businesses and job losses. Some countries’ economies – I’m thinking particularly of Ireland, although Spain, Italy and Portugal are not too far behind - are still dangerously teetering on the edge that will have an impact on our own country. On a more trivial nature, we saw England humiliated in the World Cup and Pools having to deal with the three-point deduction that almost saw us relegated. So, England’s football team was disappointed bitterly and it’s been a difficult year to be a Pools fan. Some things never change. For Hartlepool, we have seen the eyes of the world on us through the Tall Ships, with the town putting a smile on the world’s face for all the right reasons, thanks to the warmth of the welcome provided by you lot.
2011 will be difficult. As a town we have seen more than our fair share of job losses, and I fear that the coming year will see even more. I particularly worry that the imminent rise in VAT will hurt people. Not only will people see bills go up, they will probably have less disposable income to spend, which I think will have an impact on the retail industry. Less money spent in shops will mean more unemployment for shopworkers, more shop closures, and more gloom. The cuts in public spending will hit towns like Hartlepool the hardest, meaning that we will see a sharp contraction in the town’s economy without any corresponding rise in an alternative economic model.
However, the New Year should be a time for a fresh start and resolutions to try harder. I don’t want to start 2011 as a doom monger. Hartlepool has faced difficult times before and we have pulled through. We will do so again. The future economic prosperity for the town – based on modern manufacturing and the different strands of the energy industry – are tantalisingly within grasp. Most of all, the spirit of the Hartlepool people, founded on adversity and generosity, and with a healthy dash of cheekiness and irreverence, will overcome the difficulties of the next year and hopefully mean that 2011 will be better than this year. I hope you can raise a glass to the future, and wish for health, happiness, prosperity, and Pools being promoted. Happy New Year!