Blaming 2020 for our misery obscures the reasons why this year was wretched | Lea Ypi

With crises like Covid, it's comforting to point the finger away from ourselves - but we don't learn by doing so

It's the last I've got, love," said the man selling Christmas trees in our local market when I asked to see a larger specimen. It's 2020, you know. People want to see the end of it."

This was mid-November. Like many people, I started the countdown to the end of the year some time in mid-July. I panicked when I read reports from the British Christmas Trees Growers Association that some farms had already sold out, and took immediate action when I discovered that companies selling lights and decorations were struggling to meet customer demand.