Now we know that Brexit means Brexit, even if parliament votes against the deal negotiated by the Prime Minister. The stark truth which has emerged over the last 24 hours highlights clear evidence that we should all be worried about the future of the UK's parliamentary sovereignty, which many are so keen to wrestle back from Brussels. And that matters hugely for the future of the UK's environment.
Since the Government announced the withdrawal of student funding for would-be nurses last year, we are already hearing of a 20% drop in applications for graduate nursing courses. And the 1% pay cap on salaries is not helping to encourage people into nursing and is making existing nurses reconsider whether they can even afford to continue. If the NHS wants to achieve a clean bill of health, we need to ensure there is adequate staffing, funding, resource and education. The health of the nation is at stake.
I am under no illusions. I know from my own constituency that many people voted to leave the EU in order to control immigration. But the Hard Brexit which the Prime Minister now champions will not solve the problems my constituents or the economy face, and in reality risks making them far worse.
Yesterday we learned nothing that the PM hadn't already signaled in recent speeches, so you could say that at least Sterling didn't tank again. Of course that would be to misunderstand markets; the damage has already been done to our currency, since, as I've already said, all Theresa May did yesterday was reiterate her position.
We are still in the calm before the storm. In Britain and the United States, the new right has seized power but it has not yet had to use it. We are on the brink of a new era defined by values and priorities at odds with those that have held sway in the West for decades, but we can only guess at what happens next.
If we regard 2016 as a year when events and circumstances helped create conditions which supported the development and acceptance of racist ideas, attitudes and actions, then in 2017 we must all ensure that we find ways to contribute towards a change in this narrative and shine a light on the many positive contributions of those who would be a target for negativity and hatred.
We must use this opportunity to check the health of our democracy and make reform where it is needed. The people voted to take back control, and real control requires putting power into the hands of the people.
With the Prime Minister's vision for a global Britain now clear, the time is right for a modern industrial strategy. Hand in glove with the Government's Brexit response, this strategy will help to build business confidence in an enterprise and trade-led Britain at a time of international uncertainty.
Mrs May said during the referendum campaign that leaving the Single Market risked making the British people poorer. Certainly, leaving business interests outside of the new committee infrastructure for these negotiations - and failing to reflect the interests of employers and employees within them - risks getting the detail wrong and making us all worse off as a result.
So it's official - the UK is planning to leave the European Single Market. Details are - I assume at least - to follow, but as of this moment in time the future the modelling industry, our employees and our clients is still completely up in the air.
While the real discontents of people remain unheeded and the forces that can oppose right wing populism divided and disorganised, there is a very real risk that, as today's populists fail and their bright flames die down, tomorrow's sham show - the next bearers of the populist flame - will be even more extreme.
It's not too late for both to turn back, to start to talk about positive news, to express understanding for the difficult job both do, to seek to educate and explain and engage with the public both are meant to serve. Here's hoping they will. But with Trump now taking office it looks certain to get worse before it gets better.
The bottom line is: something has to change. The government refuses to listen to those who are on the frontline (quelle surprise!), and there is little as a consumer one can do to take action except this...
What is left to say about the US election and Brexit? There seems to be a sense of fatigue now when people discuss these two events - a sense of disbelief and tiredness. However, the implications of both are so huge that we can't shy away from it and have to push ahead; not only to understand what's next, but how it all happened in the first place.
So it looks like the best way to heal 2016's divides may have to involve an increase in funding to a public service. But with a government in power that yells "cut!" more passionately than Steven Spielberg, this may be an unlikely scenario.