So, what does 2005 have in store? Readers seeking an inkling of the future might do worse than to take a peek at the TES online staffroom, where contributors are building a reputation for spooky accuracy in their soothsaying.
An invitation in the dying days of 2003 for predictions for 2004 brought accurate prophesies that George Bush would win the US election, that a major European city would be hit by a terrorist attack, and Alfie and Kat would split up on EastEnders. But most mind-blowing was a casual prediction by Elaine Connell, a 51-year-old supply teacher from Hebden Bridge, that one of the biggest events would be that “David Blunkett will be involved in a sex scandal”!
Connell, who teaches English in secondary schools in Kirklees and Bradford, admitted that the prediction had been meant as a joke. “I was thinking about the John Major and Edwina Currie affair and trying to think which politician was the least likely to be involved in a sex scandal,” she said.
In fact, so unlikely did the prediction seem that a fellow seer asked whether Mr Blunkett’s love interest would be his guide dog.
“I’m hoping The Sun will offer me a job as the next Mystic Meg,” says Connell, who claims to have also foreseen the deaths of Princess Diana and Ted Hughes.
Her latest predictions? Prince Harry will discover God while in rehab and the Conservatives will take power as a minority government after a snap election. Now those are ridiculous.
