Well this is slightly embarassing. Here I am on 29 December and realise that this year I have failed to add any posts. Why is that?

Well, the main reason is that my online profile is so intimately linked to my work at GS1 that anything I post here might be construed as a statement by my employer. The idea that "all views are my own" only gets you so far. I need to be careful. I sort of made an announcement on behalf of GS1 just before Christmas when I said in various social media channels that "Verifiable Credentials at GS1 will happen". The detail of that has yet to play out but several other stakeholders will be interested in that, I know. All the more reason to proceed with caution. And there's a lot I could say about the publication last month of ISO/IEC 18975. The document doesn't tell you this but I was its author ("Project Editor" in ISO-speak). I'll have a lot more to say about the ISO process after I've retired.

The UK continues to limp along in its Brexit-hobbled way. The election held on 4 July seems along time ago now and even a natural Labour support like me finds it hard to be positive about much of what they have done so far. It's unarguable that they have added a significant burden on business, especially small businesses. This comes from the straight-jacket they put themselves in of promising no rises in income tax, National Insurance or VAT. So they've put up other taxes, like employers' National Insuarance. Right wingers are moaning about the imposition of VAT on school fees (diddums) and farmers are whingeing about large land holdings being subject to 20% inheritance tax - half the rate paid on other assets (again, diddums). I do think farmers have cause for genuine grievance about the fact that they get paid so little for their work and produce - that needs addressing. It's tempting to say "well you shouldn't have voted for Brexit then should you" but the Brexit-supporting majority among farmers wasn't as large as one might think. And, as James O'Brien always says, compassion for the conned, contempt for the conmen of Brexit. The rise of the populist hard/far right continues to be a major concern. President Musk and his orange sidekick take over the White House in three weeks. Nothing good will come of that of course and the people who will be most hurt are those that voted for them.

One definite positive note from 2024: I've read more books this year than ever. And the TBR pile for 2025 is already looking very exciting. I think fiction is going to be necessary escape from reality.