Avaragado’s 2023 predictions – results

Oh, you again. I write after the sun has set on another year but has not yet risen on the new, which is a very long way of saying it’s 6pm on NYE. And it’s just late enough that I’m confident a bunch of our rubbish predictions a year ago won’t suddenly come true in the last gasp. There’s always a chance of a celebrity death, I suppose.

Here now are the results, with my comments in bold in square brackets.

Predictions

• Louise: will China try to invade Taiwan?
  • Chef: no
  • Chris: China will invade Japan
  • Melanie: yes
  • AndyC: no
  • David. no
  • Louise: yes
  • [China did not, thankfully]
• Louise: will Putin die?
  • Chef: no
  • Chris: Who’s Putin? No
  • Melanie: no
  • AndyC: yes
  • David: yes
  • Louise: yes
  • [Putin did not, sadly]
• 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
  • [According to Wikipedia: Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses, Elton John. Chris wins!]
• 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%
  • [It did, and is currently at its peak of 5.25%]
• 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
  • [He didn’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
  • [They didn’t, for no reason anyone can fathom except the standard Tories innit]
• Chef: will there be another Scottish referendum on independence?
  • Chef: yes
  • Chris: yes
  • Melanie: no
  • AndyC: no
  • David: no
  • Louise: no
  • [Not so far. None of us predicted Nicola Sturgeon’s shock resignation]
• 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
  • [Amazingly, it’s not going to happen]
• 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
  • [Finally, Kissinger died]

Stay tuned for 2024.