2016. A year of drama. A year of high stakes. For half the population, it was a year of evil, for the other half, a year that brings hopes. What this year has left behind is a divided population. Yet we can all agree on one thing – Manchester United’s performance! My ‘Year in Review’ will tackle the obvious events that affect young people such as Brexit, Donald Trump’s presidency as well as the war in Syria among other things. However, I will also take you through the light-hearted stuff of the year such as Prom night when I undertook some liver-damaging activities which was okay until I was getting friendly with a girl who was kissing my best friend just five minutes before… Using the New Bridge system of good choices and bad choices, it certainly was a bad choice!
We begin in January as I became the first ever student to represent New Bridge by the means of writing a blog. As you can tell, I’m still holding on to that record seeing as the rest of my records are being handed down to my successor, Jack. Apart from the blogs, it is safe to say that my start as Head Boy was fairly disastrous as I spent the first few days arguing with the now former Head Girl, Zanub. That was until the end of the year where we both got up during the final assembly of the year. In other schools, this would have been for a presentation on our year as Head Boy and Head Girl. Our school is different. We got up and danced. The MC was so stunned, no words came out of his mouth for at least ten minutes! It will go down in history as one of the most shocking Talent Show moments. However, I do have fairly tough competition for that honour as there was one time when Nathan tried his very best to pull off the worm…
February came along and provided the end to one of the worst kept secrets in football management; the appointment of Pep Guardiola as Manchester City manager. However, the hype has been better than the product in this case unfortunately. We finished fourth in the league last season and with a good chunk of the season gone already, we stay locked in fourth, closer to the Champions League battle than we are to the title battle. Now, it is important to be patient. It is certain that the set of players don’t necessarily have the attributes to play in a Guardiola team. Yet it could also be argued that Guardiola’s system isn’t best suited to the Premier League, a league where teams stay aggressive for ninety minutes either via closing down or sitting deep with frequent counter attacks.
March and April weren’t massively exciting so let’s move on to the next major event of the year, the Year 11 residential at Hafan Y Mor. Mysterious happenings took place that week as Mr Greenway turned into a chicken! We also saw how you could have a late and enjoyable night without enjoying some ‘liver-damaging activities’ as we left the Showbar singing Oasis. However, there was a lady who took part in those activities who originally wanted us to go with her for a late night party on the beach. It was near enough 1am, there was absolutely no chance that was ever going to happen! What she probably needed was a sick bucket not a sand bucket.
June saw a massive democratic exercise as 70% of the voting population went out to vote in one of the country’s biggest decisions in its history – should the United Kingdom remain or leave the European Union? I would like to share my own personal views on what happened as I feel very strongly about it but I recognise that other people feel differently and that everyone is entitled to their own opinion in our democracy. I will admit as a Leave supporter, it was a shock to wake up to see a Leave victory, however I believe we have taken the right decision for the prosperity of the country! The most annoying thing about this result is certain politicians refusing to accept the democratic will of the people. Furthermore, the majority of these politicians ordered our country to go to war on countries that had no democracy. Isn’t that a thing called hypocrisy? However, it is hypocrisy that is putting this entire opportunity at risk. Recently, we have seen a case put before the most important court in the land, the Supreme Court, on whether Parliament has any right to invoke Article 50 to notify the EU of our departure. The Government have argued that this is ignoring the democratic will of the people. However, the Government have not got any democratic mandate! Theresa May was appointed by 331 MPs not 65 million people. There is a mandate to leave the EU, however the Government have not been elected to undertake this responsibility therefore I feel that it is the role of Parliament to vote on invoking Article 50 after hearing the aims of the negotiations. In my opinion, those aims should be regaining controls on immigration and sovereignty, as well as maintaining economic growth.
After listening to people moan that my blogs can often be too long, I have decided that my year in review will be split in two parts. My second blog which should be out before you welcome in the New Year will discuss the transition to Medtia Square and Donald Trump, as well as a full report of our Activ8 Grand Final when myself and Jack went to battle playing one of the most physical yet beautiful sports in the world!
Matthew
