Tony Porter Ponders: A review of 2024 but first have WASPi a sting in the tail

The Marsh Green new build houses are looking stunning and up so quickly, bravo.

2024 has been a year of change, some good, most bad. Have Labour lied to get into power? How many more groups can they annoy?

My Christmas Ponder has, in the past, been a look back at the whole year and progress or lack of certain issues, this will be that column, but first I must address, again, the elephant in the room. Keir Starmer and his cabinet, when in opposition they were backing the WASPi women who claim to have been uninformed over retirement age changes for women. At the time Labour had many high-profile MPs pictured with supporting signs, on camera with the women and during interviews saying that they deserved to have some finical compensation and would get a fair deal within their term in government. Words like ‘stolen’ were used by Keir, even in 2022, the Tories had said no, but an independent inquiry said that the WASPi ladies had a strong case. I am unsure about whether they should get compensation, I do not know enough about the ins and outs, but I feel that the WASPi women have been misled by Labour and given false promises. Five months in you can add this group to the farmers, OAPS who had their Winter Fuel Payments stopped, so that Elton John and Lord Sugar don’t get it aparently, business owners who will have to pay more in rates, energy, NI contributions and wages while their incomes are not necessarily going to rise therefore threatening jobs and hours for millions of employees. Shoezone has even directly blamed Rachel Reeves for their decision to close stores after Christmas. Then there is all of us for rising fuel prices, inflation and Keir cosying up to the EU, it really is a catalogue of broken pledges. The WASPi case was in the 2019 manifesto, but not in the last, but again I remind them they got a million votes less this year than in 2019, well they do keep mentioning the £20m alleged black hole. I have noticed that on various news social media rumours of a leadership challenge at Labour as backbenchers are not impressed with the way things are going and could be planning to revolt, like those mentioned earlier.

Back to 2024, what a year for Wigan, the last part of the Galleries demolition finished in Febuary, then O’Conner came in and did some digging, this after BECGi had left the project. Now the third contractors are getting on with things, even the not a car park car park is now a car park. Haigh Hall was progressing nicely, until a few months back when the smelly stuff hit the spinning thing, but the scaffolding is coming down, at last, though that might be to save money as you have to pay monthly for scaffolding when it is erected until it is removed. Things have been moving on the Civic Centre and privately funded projects are still going ahead full pace with Stack in half the former Debenhams preparing to start remodelling the building, Eckersley Mill going a plumb and the houses in Marsh Green, free of scaffolding too, have shot up at an alarmingly impressive rate. Sadly, Wigan Pier has seen little, if any, progress despite the town houses now being occupied, we were told the money from them would allow the project to move on. The Tics got a new owner and the stadia got a new sponsor and name.