Looking back - and forward - with hope

 

This could have been the worst year just gone. It wasn’t just the global pandemic which took my father’s life. After being diagnosed with cancer in 2018 and nearly dying of sepsis in 2019 I was told in 2020 that my cancer was now advanced and that there was a 50% likelihood that I would be dead within a very few years.

However, this was not at all the worst time of my life. On the contrary, I was happier than I have been in my adult life. I really appreciated the love of my partner (with whom I entered into a civil partnership), my children, wider family and friends. I also realised that I have every chance of making it to many more New Year’s Days - but (more importantly) that each day is to be enjoyed.

I hope that 2021 will be a year in which we can all renew our commitment to the struggle for socialism - and against those who would hold that struggle back, whether in our Party or our trade unions. Whether or not I will be around to see it (which, let’s face it, I probably won’t), I have no doubt in the bright socialist future of humanity.