Avaragado and friends predict 2023

Well, 2022 was a year, wasn’t it? Two monarchs and about thirty-seven prime ministers. Still we crumble on, watching those Brexit benefits pile up on street corners.

On New Year’s Eve the usual suspects plus special guests gathered at the Town and Gown as usual to drink away the afternoon and rummage for predictions for the year ahead. Here we are, already two bottles to the wind:

Predictions

• Louise: will China try to invade Taiwan?
  • Chef: no
  • Chris: China will invade Japan
  • Melanie: yes
  • AndyC: no
  • David. no
  • Louise: yes
• Louise: will Putin die?
  • Chef: no
  • Chris: Who’s Putin? No
  • Melanie: no
  • AndyC: yes
  • David: yes
  • Louise: yes
• Chris: who will be the Glastonbury headliners?
  • Chef: PinkPantheress. Doja Cat
  • Chris: Taylor Swift, Arctic Monkeys
  • Melanie: Dua Lipa, Harry Styles
  • AndyC: Eminem, Rihanna
  • David: Rolling Stones, Taylor Swift
  • Louise: pass
• Chef: will the Bank of England base rate hit 5%?
  • Chef: no, 4.75%
  • Chris: no, 4.5%
  • Melanie: yes, 5%
  • AndyC: yes, 5.5%
  • David: yes, 6%
  • Louise: yes, 5%
• David: when will Jeremy Hunt stop being Chancellor?
  • Chef: he won’t
  • Chris: he won’t
  • Melanie: he won’t
  • AndyC: he won’t
  • David: June
  • Louise: he won’t
• AndyC: will the government do a Covid booster for under 50s?
  • Chef: yes
  • Chris: yes
  • Melanie: no
  • AndyC: yes
  • David: yes
  • Louise: no – but people will be able to pay to get one
• Chef: will there be another Scottish referendum on independence?
  • Chef: yes
  • Chris: yes
  • Melanie: no
  • AndyC: no
  • David: no
  • Louise: no
• AndyC: will the Cambridge congestion charge be approved?
  • Chef: no
  • Chris: not in its current form, yes eventually
  • Melanie: sadly yes
  • AndyC: yes but changed
  • David: yes
  • Louise: yes
• Chef: nominate some celebrity deaths
  • Chef: Elton John, Robbie Williams
  • Chris: Barry Manilow, Greta Thunberg
  • Melanie: Dick van Dyke, Britney Spears
  • AndyC: Elon Musk, Michael Eavis, Joe Biden
  • David: Henry Kissinger, Piers Morgan
  • Louise: David Attenborough, Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Apologies to those nominated. Some of them at least.