One prediction for 2024 that is guaranteed is the generation of an awful lot of hot air.

There will be a general election and that means a surfeit of politicians sounding off about the state of the economy and British business. The truth, whatever they may claim, is that the economy is stagnant and that far too many companies are deserting the UK, being sold to overseas buyers or choosing to list their shares on foreign stock exchanges.

Most of that interest is coming from the US. Not only, it seems, are we content at being the “51st state” vis a vis our foreign policy, but commercially as well – we’re being quietly subsumed into the giant power.