Thanks for your careful analysis Sam, signing up to your Substack was one of my positive achievements in 2024, as I have always found you honest and engaging and will look forward to your and your father’s comments on what may well be a tumultuous 2025. Wishing you and yours a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Donald Trump is already giving Americans many reasons to be ashamed of our country, such as the disgraceful appointment of Charles Kushner as ambassador to the UK. Trump claims a "mandate" from the voters for his insults and threats against our allies and trading partners--he has no such thing. He barely eked out a plurality of the popular vote (1.6%). There is a large, motivated opposition here. You will see and hear much more from us come January.
I'm hoping your analysis in 2025 will serve as a corrective to some of the instant narratives that keep popping up in elite discourse - currently "Farage will be the next PM".
It might be good to look at politics in European countries beyond France and Germany, if you can. I was pulled up on this the other night by a friend from a smaller EU country - in the UK we tend to extrapolate trends across the EU from looking at events in France and Germany, though all the member states have their own do…
Thanks Sam for the analysis this year - and the audit seems very fair.
In terms of positivity for 2025, perhaps it's worth looking at what Ed Miliband and his team has achieved at DESNZ in 6 months. While most of the hard decisions on energy policy will come in 2025 and beyond, Miliband seems to have used his knowledge of government to make changes quickly and establish momentum towards a clear and ambitious plan.