Still, there is more to hope for next year than simply the alleviation of economic problems. Something that marked 2009 with a great big grimy smudge was the success had by the far-right, especially the British National Party in the North West and Yorkshire, where the good Lancastrians and Yorkshire-folk are now represented in the European Parliament by fascist MEPs. The problem though, is not that people are thinking horrible things about anyone who is a little bit different, but that they have little alternative but to think that. I firmly hold the opinion that the vast majority of the BNP’s voters are not nasty people, but simply forgotten people. Every major political party has neglected these constituents, and every major political party has been on the back foot in the debates on the far-right’s core issues.

I’m not just talking about immigration and racism, the BNP, with its new, clean image (laugh if you want, but not everyone is a liberal lefty with a built-in disgust of the BNP), champions a distortion of traditional values and morals that are just similar enough in image, though little else, to the traditional values that used to form part of British society in the ‘50s. Guess where the political mainstream is (and I include the green movement in this)? Nowhere is the answer; Mr Cameron might make some inconsequential moves to offer financial incentives to getting married, and Mr Brown and Lord Mandelson might talk about Britishness in a few speeches, but the debate on values, morality, and the question of what it means to be from Britain has been firmly grasped by the likes of Mr Griffin.

Morality has, of course, traditionally been the realm of the Church. I think the best way to describe my attitude to religion would be “actively agnostic”: I don’t currently believe in any particular god or religious structure, and I don’t think it is really possible to prove the existence of God, or even of gods, but I would never say for definite that these things cannot exist; I might one day be struck with a spiritual revelation, leading to a belief of the religious kind, so it would be foolish to keep a closed mind. The advantage of this convenient fudge is that I can do stuff that atheist can’t do, while not feeling guilty for being half-hearted as an apathetic agnostic might: in short, I can go to the Watchnight Service at St Giles Kirk on Christmas Eve, and pay attention to the sermon, without a Dawkinsian complex of any kind. In this particular sermon, the Minister took the time to praise Atheists and decry agnosticism: to paraphrase him, atheists present worthy opponents in debate, whereas agnostics are responsible for the downfall of society. I’m sure he didn’t mean to present such a sharp message, but I think it goes back to what I wrote about the far-right’s grasp on debates. For a debate to be had properly, all sides must be confident enough to make pronouncements on all ideas. Bad ideas must be exposed for what they are, and good ideas must be brought forth on sturdy legs.

In the Green Party, and indeed, in all major political parties, we need to grasp the debate and say what we think about Britishness, morality, and all the other issues which are held so tightly in the fists of fascists. We need to truly talk with all of the electorate, and we need to realise that the way that we can prevail in our political ambitions is through honest and fair discourse, not through aggressive confrontation with English Defence League, or by sneeringly mocking the BNP.

For all the apparent futility in the campaign to push Rage Against The Machine’s Killing in the Name to the Christmas number one spot (sure, the profits from sales of the song went to the same musical multinational that McFabricated’s profits would have gone to, but did anyone notice that the Facebook group used to orchestrate it also managed to raise over £90,000 for Shelter?), it did raise my hopes for 2010, simply because it demonstrated a desire for a more honest and less fake way of doing things. If we can keep that spark of dissatisfaction with plastic society, then I’ll be a lot more confident that debate can be had, and perhaps even the statistics presented below might have nudged towards improvement in the next edition of this special post.

Here’s to 2010, an honest, argumentative, real, and better year!

Click here for an archive of past new year posts.

So what have been my political highlights of last year? I think I’d have to put following the Climate and Energy Package up there pretty highly, though in terms of what people visit this blog for, the Torpedo Amendments of the Telecoms Package are a close contender. I’m still at the top position on Google in the UK for the search on them. In domestic politics, the change at the helm of the Scottish Greens was obviously significant, and I don’t think I’ll ever see such an impressive and heartfelt farewell as was given to Robin at the party conference in September.

Personally, this year has been dominated by my discovery of European politics. Surprisingly, the first time I got involved in the Federation of Young European Greens was only February! Since then I’ve certainly experienced quite a lot, including learning how to deal with vehemently pro-European Belgians (though I’m certainly still learning that).

On last year’s end of year post, I wrote about what I wanted to see in the coming year. Proving that, despite feeling recent, the ‘credit-crunch’ has been with us for plenty of time now, I looked forward to “subdued consumerism” and the ensuing environmental benefits. Well thanks to the extensive media coverage of it all – not to mention the year to mull things over – I’ve realised that it’d be nice to have a decent economy which works for people and planet, rather than the short-term gain from the current troubles. Fortunately the Green New Deal came along with a perfect Green rescue plan, and was even picked up by the UN, albeit in a slightly watered down form. Hopefully 2009 will see the first steps of the “carbon army”.

On a different level, I’d like to see greens in the UK realise that there’s a whole continent out there, and so many opportunities to work with fellow greens, to really get our message across, and make sure that we get as many people into office as possible, giving us a chance to prove that it is possible to repair the damage to the environment, prevent future degradation, and reconnect people with both their planet, and their fellow people.

Grand words, I know, and I’m sure I’ll face accusations of forgetting the grassroots and local basis of the green movement.

2005 really was the year when green was trendy. We still had plenty of borrowed money floating around, so it was fine to conspicuously consume the Fairtrade coffee, Duchy Originals biscuits, and People Tree clothes. New Consumer magazine was in its heyday, and even scored an interview with Leonardo di’Caprio.

However, while the economic downturn has moved people from Waitrose to Lidl, and from Duchy to digestives, I’ve noticed something else start to happen. Something very heartening indeed, so long as you don’t manufacture organic hemp jeans. Green policies are slowly being picked up in the significant levels of government. The people who make the decisions are finally starting — and I emphasise ‘starting’ — to make the right decisions, not just those which look good. The Green proposed plans for universal free insulation in Scotland are a great example of this.

So, let 2009 bring copious insulation,  more elected Greens, and a rejigged Green economy.

My other resolutions range from the long term and just about realisable – such as getting a place to study at Oxford when I graduate from MMU – to the slightly odd desire to learn Dutch and go back to Sofia (yes, I know Dutch isn’t spoken in Bulgaria, they’re separate resolutions).

Anyway, so far, I seem to be doing better with my resolutions than last year, so I guess we’ll see if I’m successful, by my ability to write next year’s end/start of year post in Nederlands.

Perhaps, we have made some progress though. 2006 brought the environment into the mainstream, maybe 2007 was a sort of settling in period. Will 2008 be the year when we find that the seat is adjusted properly, the seat-belt fastened and the car in gear ready to set off properly? (perhaps driving metaphors aren’t good in a ‘green’ post. Imagine it is an electric Tesla Roadster instead!).

One of the most encouraging green ideas that I heard in 2007 was from Patrick Harvie MSP at the SGP Conference, where he suggested that Greens should be seen as new hedonists, not new puritans.

I couldn’t agree more. Emphasising eco-affluence, as James Martin puts it in “The Meaning of the 21st Century”, can surely do a lot of good in ‘selling’ environmentally sustainable lifestyles to people who would otherwise be disengaged.

And so it gives me a degree of pleasure when I see front page adverts on The Grauniad for Divine Chocolate, and full page ads in The Observer for Union Coffee. When Fairtrade coffee can market itself with the slogan “The finest things in life are crafted by hand…”, and not have to rely on the emotive, Western guilt, side of the product, then we are surely moving in the right direction.

Of course there are hangers on. I saw an advert for an American hybrid petrol-electric SUV that was claiming to be environmentally friendly, despite only getting around 20 miles to the gallon! But greens have a strong chance of moving into even more of the forefront of political issues in 2008, and from the forefront, it will be easier to show up the green-wash.

Failing that, the ‘credit crunch’ and subdued consumerism that we are being warned of ought to do something good for the environment!

Here’s to a green new year!

Anyway, to put aside the dramatic news, I meant to post something, around Christmas as a sort of review of the year, but somehow the lure of chocolate, wine and mince pies prevented me from doing so.

It’s been an odd year. I think I started my last review post like that, but it still applies now. The transition from my gap year to university was quite hard. I suddenly had to do work and reading, all while trying to get used to living in a new city and a new country. It is surprising just how different England is to Scotland. I can’t really put my finger on what specific things are different, but there is a different culture, and a different attitude to things here.

Even though it’s had bad bits, 2006 was definitely a good year. Amazingly, I’ve managed to get this far without even mentioning my tour. Without a doubt, it was the highlight of the year. Nothing could compare with the freedom of just spending each and every day cycling through the countryside. Again, there were bad bits, like pushing my bike through Wark Forest in gale force winds, and cycling from Gloucester to Bristol in scorching temperatures, but I’m really glad I did it, and I plan on doing another tour again this year, so either I’m mad, or I enjoyed it!