Christmas Greetings 2020

This is the second version of my Christmas message, as there has been such a fundamental change in the government’s approach in the last few days. The rapid escalation of Wokingham, West Berkshire and much of London and the south east into Tier 3 to be followed almost immediately by a further move to a new Tier 4 means many of us have very few options this Christmas. I will now work on over the holiday period.My planned little break at a local hotel to enjoy someone else’s cooking for a change and a visit to family has gone. I will press the government for better compensation for people and businesses stopped from working, and for better ways of managing the NHS and limiting the spread of the infection.

Like many people I put up my tree and decorations early this year, as we all need some colour, light and hope in what has been a worrying year, darkened by the pandemic. I spend so much more of my days at home talking to you all through email, conference calls and my website rather than dropping by in person. I find it is uplifting to remember freer times at Christmas through the decorations and an occasional background of great Christmas music. It is a pleasant punctuation of a busy working day to add something to the tally of cards or the range of Christmas ornaments. I find it brings me both memories of happy Wokingham Christmases past, and hopes of happy Christmases to come post covid.

I am also more than ever conscious that there are some who have been isolated too much and are fighting loneliness as they seek to shield themselves from the virus. Where we know of people on their own  it will mean the world to them if we pick up the phone, take to the zoom or find any other safe way to get in touch. Many extended families have contacted each other more during these long days of lockdown, teaching young and old the joys of smartphones, pads and laptop led video chats. Grandparents have heard their grandchildren sing over zoom and seen them dance through their smartphone. On line and hybrid shops will do a good job and roaring trade this Christmas delivering presents around the country, with relatives keen to see reactions when they are opened from their separate homes.

Most have done their bit to control the virus and to keep their friends and families together. Parents have had  more time at home with their children where they have been working from home themselves .I think many will find a way to relax and to enjoy some of the features of a normal Christmas within  the new legal restraints. We owe it to each other to capture the Christmas spirit in an unusual anti covid 19 style bottle.

I wish to say a big thank you to heroes and heroines of the CV 19 crisis, to all those who did go out to work to help the rest of us. There were those who had to  keep the power  and the broadband running, to grow and deliver our food, to care for those in hospital and care homes who did have this very contagious disease, to equip and train the nation in the skills needed to live with lock down and to deliver all the things we needed. There are countless unsung hard working people who have served us well during this constrained year. I hope like me you have sought to use local self employed and small business where possible, as many of them have had tough times. Christmas is a good time to say thank you. The words matter a lot. Cards or presents can embellish where appropriate.

I wish you and yours the best possible Christmas. For a young child this is an especially magic time. CV 19 should not come in the way of a childā€™s joy, anticipation and excitement about presents, Christmas food and the family atmosphere that surrounds it. So ban all talk of covid and politics from Thursday, wrap up the presents, put on the lights, prepare the feast and let Christmas begin. You will have fewer people in your home to celebrate, so get on the phone or zoom to share experiences with those you wanted to be with you. We all want our children and grandchildren to have happy memories of Christmas 2020. Many of us will still enjoy some of the childhood feelings as we spend the day with those we care most about, or find a way to talk to them where they are.

187 Comments

  1. Mark B
    December 21, 2020

    Good morning

    A good constituency MP at work.

    Thanks for the read.

    1. Martin in Cardiff
      December 21, 2020

      A peaceful Christmas to one and all.

      The near Continent has blockaded traffic from the UK, our exports, that is. As I understand it, imports are relatively unaffected.

      So how does that sit with “they need us more than we need them”?

      Clearly the UK has nothing, upon which they think that they depend existentially, does it?

      And if the French fishers don’t like what the UK is doing, then wouldn’t they impose much the same, as they did a few years back?

      The delusions are being exposed thick and fast now, aren’t they?

      1. Martin in Cardiff
        December 21, 2020

        No, imports are largely blocked too as many of our trucks were going on pickups, and the Continent’s wouldn’t be able to return.

        “A fortiori” as our friends the judiciary would say.

        1. Edward2
          December 22, 2020

          Reports from the Road Haulage Association suggest you are wrong Martin.
          Most are foreign owned lorries stuck both sides as the French predictably play up.
          Remain fans think Dover is the only port in the UK

    2. Peter
      December 21, 2020

      Merry Christmas All
      &
      ā€˜May your God go with youā€™ (Dave Allen)

      1. Fred H
        December 21, 2020

        He/she/It can’t – is in Tier 4.

      2. Lifelogic
        December 21, 2020

        On my own then.

      3. Hope
        December 21, 2020

        JR,

        Merry Christmas and a haelthy New Year to you and your family.

        Guido highlights Neil Ferguson quietly allowed back in Nervtac when your Govt told us he was gone! Remember what Hancock said? Come on, how is it possible to have a failed discredited person like him back in a vital Govt role? Is this the reason behind the exaggerated or fake figure again?

        It is getting boring. We had the SAGE minutes from Speing showing deliberate coercion under Valances chair, September Fake charts, we had the October Fake charts for the November lock down that unraveled very quickly etc. the Govt now states the charts are not accurate.

        Give us a Christmas present and sack Johnson and cabinet and tell them to piss off out of it. The damage Johnson’s govt has caused needs investigating more urgently than listening them. For example, Shapps states B Transport police will enforce London Lockdown and people travelling while millions have flowed in through London airports without test and trace! Do the govt realise how stupid they sound?
        My advice, ignore all rules and guidance. It is not based on tried and trusted science to date.

  2. Peter Wood
    December 21, 2020

    Many Thanks Sir John, and may you also have a very restful and joyous Christmas.

    My New Year wish: Boris keeps his word; no capitulation, return of land and sea to UK control, and no ECJ.

    Merry Christmas ALL.

    1. Lifelogic
      December 21, 2020

      +1 to all that. But where does JR find time to put up his Christmas Tree? My wife and children do all that.

    2. Andy
      December 21, 2020

      (Except for Northern Ireland).

    3. Sir Joe Soap
      December 21, 2020

      On breaking the Withdrawal Agreement:

      “The UK is still part of the EUā€™s economic institutions and security co-operation arrangements until the end of the transition period. During this time, the EU has continued to treat the UK as a member of the single market and customs union. It has also asked its trade partners to continue to treat the UK as a member state until the end of transition.

      Freedom of movement remains in place and citizensā€™ rights continue unaffected until the end of the period.”

    4. Martin in Cardiff
      December 21, 2020

      I still don’t get how the French were able to close and to control their borders. Aren’t they in the European Union?

      What’s going on?

      1. Sir Joe Soap
        December 21, 2020

        Free movement has to apply for all comers here though of course.

      2. Edward2
        December 21, 2020

        They just acted illegally.
        As EU members.

      3. Mike Wilson
        December 21, 2020

        The rules have never applied to the French. Everyone knows that.

        1. Fred H
          December 22, 2020

          Martin doesn’t .

  3. Ian Wilson
    December 21, 2020

    Thank you, Sir, for the immense work you devote to running this diary and the rare voice of sanity in an increasingly mad world. I reciprocate your good wishes.

    1. No Longer Anonymous
      December 21, 2020

      +1

    2. Martin in Cardiff
      December 21, 2020

      So this voice of sanity, which said that brexit was about “taking back control” of our borders, now then, who is in control of them now?

      There are two sides to each border, aren’t there?

      1. Edward2
        December 22, 2020

        It seems the French are in charge of their border Martin.
        A good reminder of how the UK should act.

    3. Pominoz
      December 21, 2020

      Seconded, Ian,

      Christmas wishes to Sir John and every (and I mean every) contributor from ‘down under’.

      Wish you were here?

  4. Cheshire Girl
    December 21, 2020

    Like you, I have cancelled my Christmas stay in a London hotel, but I feel fortunate that I have managed to avoid Covid, and that I am warm and comfortable, when so many are not. I am in a ā€˜supportā€™ bubble, so I may be able to see my Son for a very brief time over Christmas, and I feel so grateful for that.
    We all owe a great debt to those who have worked so hard to keep us all safe, and keep the Country running.
    Sir John, I wish you, and all on here a Happy and Blessed Christmas, and hope the New Year will bring much better news and a relief from the suffering and anxiety of so many , in this dreadful year.

    1. zorro
      December 21, 2020

      You may have had it already…

      zorro

      1. glen cullen
        December 21, 2020

        Maybe we all have

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          December 22, 2020

          +1 when people have nothing left to lose – dangerous for all.

  5. SM
    December 21, 2020

    Sir John – very best wishes to you for a happy and healthy New Year.

    Thank you, not only for your continuing hard work as an MP but also for the dedication you show to the public in this Diary – I wonder if there are any other politicians, of whatever Party, in the UK who go to such lengths to exchange views and make politics more comprehensible to the layman?

  6. Mary M.
    December 21, 2020

    And this evening at about 4.30 look SSW for the Christmas Star. The conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter. If we miss it, we’ll have to wait till 2080 to see it again.

    Happy Christmas, and here’s to a normal (not a ‘new normal’) Christmas next year.

    Mary M.

    1. Peter
      December 21, 2020

      Merry Christmas to you Mary, but do not be too concerned if you miss the Christmas star tonight. Today is the best day but still visible and spectacular for a few weeks – even the three wise men didn’t follow it in a day!!

    2. Lifelogic
      December 21, 2020

      Rather cloudy here today and not certain I will make it (or want to make it) to be 119 or something. A picture will perhaps have to suffice.

      Much sense from the excellent Dr Claire Craig (Consultant Pathologist) on Talk Radio just now (about 9.45 am).

      1. Lifelogic
        December 21, 2020

        and from JR after 10.00. Talk Radio seems to be one of the few radio stations allowing sensible/rational people (on the Covid/Lockdown issue) on. Is Ofcom or similar doing lots of censoring/threatening? – I assume so.

        LBC seems to cut anyone sensible off, especially if they just say something like “this/these vaccines have been rushed though” or “we do not know how safe and efective it is yet” or “for the young it might be safer to catch the virus than take the vaccine”. All of which is largely true. Not that I am against vaccines many make a lot of sense but not all. Time will tell.

  7. Fedupsoutherner
    December 21, 2020

    What a lovely Christmas message John. Full of hope and understanding for others. Its a shame that many of us won’t now be getting together with friends and family as we thought but someone sent me a photo last night of men in the trenches at Christmas 1914 and I realised then that it’s not the end of the world and hopefully for us all there will be better times ahead. I do feel for those that have lost loved ones, businesses and jobs and continue to hope they too will find peace and happiness again. Wishing everyone that contributes on this diary happier times ahead in the new year.

    1. Everhopeful
      December 21, 2020

      Yes, well.
      Virus = war.
      Same thing.
      Our needless destruction.

      1. Fedupsoutherner
        December 21, 2020

        Sorry Everhopeful. There is no comparison for most of us.

        1. Everhopeful
          December 22, 2020

          At regular intervals the elite shatter our world for their own ends.
          All wars destroy lives and so will this handy virus.
          But this time our world will be unrecognisable and unrecoverable.
          Why do you think that, right from the start of the ā€œoutbreakā€ they have been saying there will be no return to the ā€œOld Normalā€?

    2. Lucyna Cavendish
      December 21, 2020

      I’ll be thinking of those men in the trenches in 1914. Poor souls.

      1. Lynn Atkinson
        December 22, 2020

        At least they were allowed to fight! We have been defeated and not allowed to fight.

  8. DOM
    December 21, 2020

    Yes, children. Our most precious commodity. Those we are duty bound to protect from all harm, unless political considerations intervene and then some will make an exception

    An event so shocking it has come to define the brutal and extremist immorality of the British political class that no issue can come before protecting the two party State

    Both main parties have dehumanised a nation to protect themselves from harm. That’s no reason to celebrate, it is a reason to weep and mourn for better times gone

    1. Nigl
      December 21, 2020

      What a pathetic dystopian response to a message of hope. You are truly sad.

      1. pax
        December 21, 2020

        Dunno. I agree with those words of Dom.
        He could have wished John Redwood well though at the end.
        I wish JR well.

    2. Everhopeful
      December 21, 2020

      +1

    3. Iago
      December 21, 2020

      Agreed. The whitewash report, after a year’s re-writing an insult to intelligence, was issued last week – nothing to see here, move along.

    4. Paul Cuthbertson
      December 21, 2020

      DOM – Spot on

    5. Fred H
      December 21, 2020

      What a shambles of a year. Farcical Brexit and now Covid.

      Lets hope for backtracking from dystopia becoming reality.

  9. Maylor
    December 21, 2020

    With the forecasts of doom & gloom coming from the govt, it is difficult to see how anyone can have a good Xmas.

    I would urge Sir John and other concerned politicians to rein in the senior cabinet ministers before they destroy the Conservative Party, perhaps for ever.

    Get a dose of sanity from Prof Carl Heneghan, Professor of Evidence Based Medicine at Oxford Universityā€™s Nuffield Department of Primary Care.

    1. Lifelogic
      December 21, 2020

      Lots of otherā€™s talking sense too Dr Claire Craig, Michael Yeadon, Prof. David Livermore UEA, the Barrington Declarations people …..

  10. Sea_Warrior
    December 21, 2020

    Nice message. And may I compliment you, Sir John, on the operation and content of your blog over this past year. You are one of the few politicians who seem to care about what we, the public, actually think. All the best for 2021.

  11. Fedupsoutherner
    December 21, 2020

    Have all the ports and the tunnel been closed to make us believe that we need a deal at any price for Brexit?

    1. BJC
      December 21, 2020

      Well a 48 hour blockade certainly doesn’t do anything to contain the virus…….wholly political! We know one travel route that won’t be blocked; indeed, it’s probably where the “new improved” strain came from.

      1. Lifelogic
        December 21, 2020

        Is there perhaps “collustion” in this much hyped “mutent” virus (71% more infectious but far less dangerous anyway it seems) and the blockade? Collustion between the UK government and EU to help justify the Boris Brino cave in and betrayal – coming any day now from Boris?

        I suspect so.

      2. Paul Cuthbertson
        December 21, 2020

        BJC – I have a feeling that route will be inundated with clients during the so called “festive season”.

      3. M Davis
        December 21, 2020

        Your second sentence crossed my mind too!

        A Happy Christmas to Sir John and all – however you spend it. Be happy!

    2. Everhopeful
      December 21, 2020

      Or to convince us that Brexit is per se a dangerous and wrong thing?
      Four years of all this!!
      EU is a dangerous and wrong thing!

    3. Lifelogic
      December 21, 2020

      Of course they have.

    4. bigneil(newercomp)
      December 21, 2020

      You know the answer – -and so do millions of others.

    5. Dave Andrews
      December 21, 2020

      Having paid for the transition period, the French are effectively breaching the agreement. We are due a refund.
      I don’t blame them for taking the action they have done, given all the alarm the government have raised over infections rates in parts of the country. We still are owed compensation though.

    6. Sea_Warrior
      December 21, 2020

      Nah – it will be a demonstration that we don’t. I hope anyone buying foodstuffs over the next couple of weeks will make a point of buying British – particularly those goods that would normally be exported across the Channel. We can comfortably eat anything our farmers grow and fishermen catch.

    7. RichardP
      December 21, 2020

      I think it has more to do with the Governmentā€™s addiction to project fear. They forget other countries are listening to their rubbish as well as the more gullible members of the British public.

    8. Fernando Ferreira
      December 21, 2020

      Dear Fedupsoutherner,

      The answer to your question is, unmistakingly: Ā«Yes!!Ā»
      And yes, the Brits really, really need A DEAL WITH THE EU AT ANY PRICE…
      Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

      Yours truly,

      Fernando Ferreira

      1. Fred H
        December 21, 2020

        they can really really go forth and …..

      2. Lynn Atkinson
        December 22, 2020

        Mr Ferreira just because you surrendered Portugal …

    9. Iago
      December 21, 2020

      plus 1.

    10. DennisA
      December 21, 2020

      That is my feeling.

  12. Stephen J
    December 21, 2020

    Well we are trying to face off adversity, and a degree of positivity is necessary, I suppose.

    But I never thought that my adversary would be my own government.

    So now we can decide whether to have a good Christmas despite Brexit and Covid….

    … Just as long as we can somehow persuade the government that with those two issues the last thing that we want is to have a fight with our so-called elected leaders.

    The new year would be so much more enticing to look forward to if Mr. Johnson would just walk away from those gangsters in Brussels. That is one fight we can definitely win… The other one, against some invisible pussy cat seems to be a non-entity that has been elevated to godlike status, that only our brilliant government can manage, since we are not qualified.

    Merry Christmas…

    … Bah.

    1. Andy
      December 21, 2020

      You lost ā€˜the fight against Brusselsā€™ – as you call it – when you started building lorry parks and stuck a border in the Irish Sea.

      Lunatics never know they are mad but the rest of us can see very clearly just how bonkers you have all gone.

      1. Lynn Atkinson
        December 21, 2020

        Watch Guy Maurice Marie Louise Verhofstadt (yes really!) admitting ā€˜we always needed a dealā€™ but ā€˜DONT PANICā€™ in the EU Parliament, brightened my day I can tell you,
        He thinks you are an idiot Andy, as do we all. Merry Christmas.

      2. Edward2
        December 21, 2020

        Not very PC andy.
        Mental health is a real issue.
        You should know better than to refer to others as lunatics and bonkers.
        Very poor.

      3. Lynn Atkinson
        December 22, 2020

        As things have turned out, maybe they were. Who would believe that the British would breed such a disgusting generation?

  13. Pat
    December 21, 2020

    We have good reason to be optimistic for 2021

    Our country freed from the EU

    The covid vaccinations underway

    Thank you for your unflagging efforts Sir John and for this uniquely informative blog

    Merry Christmas to all.

    1. Nigl
      December 21, 2020

      Thank you. A positive message instead of the negative, no solutions offered, from a small group of vision less dystopian ranters who only look backwards.

      1. Fred H
        December 21, 2020

        ‘vision less’ ‘dystopian ranters’.
        An oxymoron.

    2. ian@Barkham
      December 21, 2020

      +1

    3. Paul Cuthbertson
      December 21, 2020

      Pat – Freed from the EU – I will believe it when I see it and so far the outlook is not looking positive and remember the UK Establishment do not want to leave the EU.
      Covid vaccinations underway – Rushed through the “system” in record time without true and positive verification. The pharmceutical companies are immune from prosecution.
      Unflagging efforts…… – MPs are elected and paid to represent the people of their constituents anyway but if you make reference to the truth on this page it is not published. Have to follow the party line.
      The Christmas period under “normal circumstances” is the cause of a lot of problems within families and is also a very lonely time for many. Expect it to be considerably worse this time round.

  14. Richard416
    December 21, 2020

    Dear Sir John, I would like to join the many who wish you the best possible Christmas, even though yours and ours are ruined by government action. I can’t say you voted for it and nor did I.

  15. wes
    December 21, 2020

    Merry Christmas and many thanks for the work you put in keeping us informed.

  16. Iain Gill
    December 21, 2020

    merry christmas john,

    the insulin better cross them borders or covid deaths will look trivial within days

  17. JoolsB
    December 21, 2020

    Merry Christmas to you and your family John and to everyone who contributes to this website (including Andy). Your website is a refreshing must read every morning. A true Conservative MP with good old common sense values – a rarity nowadays. Thank you.

  18. ukretired123
    December 21, 2020

    Christmas Greetings to you Sir John!
    Keep up your courageous battling for Britain and good luck in all your endeavours!

  19. Nigl
    December 21, 2020

    Ps. For yesterdayā€™s contributors it has now been proved Boris was responsible for the plagues in ancient Egypt and Black Death of 1665.

    As epidemiological experts maybe they could ask the virus to tell him when it is going to mutate.

  20. Sir Joe Soap
    December 21, 2020

    You’re doing a good job in you chosen metier.
    Thanks for the site and insight.
    It’s ever more important to call out the frauds, poor thinkers and others who weasel their way into positions of power.

    Happy Christmas.

  21. Everhopeful
    December 21, 2020

    So the govt. wants stricter than Tier 4?
    Whatā€™s that then?
    Come round to the door and shoot us to protect us from the plague?

    Arenā€™t you MPs just a tad miffed at being sideline re the latest ā€œLockdown lawsā€?

  22. Gordon Nottingham
    December 21, 2020

    And a Merry Christmas to you PAT, may we all have a HAPPIER NEW YEAR.

  23. Bryan Harris
    December 21, 2020

    It’s hard to find something cheerful to say when everything looks so bleak.

    Never let it be said though that we do not appreciate men of good standing, who wave the flag for common sense and a better future, as our host does. Without him, and others like him there would be less hope in the world.

    At a time when many of us mistrust the motives and actions of those in authority a real BREXIT would be a welcome sign.

    We now hear that a heavy handed lockdown will be with us until ‘vaccines are rolled out’ – That might give hope to some, until we realize that even the drug manufacturers tell us it is not as effective as some are telling us.

    If Trump can win we will all win, and perhaps he can help to start rolling back the world-wide deep state which is pushing us towards a very uncertain future.

    Let us all try and enjoy what is left for us to celebrate while we still can.

  24. The PrangWizard
    December 21, 2020

    Merry Christmas to you and yours Sir John.

  25. James Bertram
    December 21, 2020

    Happy Christmas, Sir John.
    Thank you for all your hard work.

  26. Everhopeful
    December 21, 2020

    from ā€œThe Vindication of Christmasā€ 1652

    Puritan ā€œKeep out, you come not hereā€.

    Old Christmas ā€œSir, I bring good cheers.ā€

    Ordinary person ā€œOld Christmas welcome; Do not fear .ā€

    Cromwell got away with it for a few years ( less draconian than Boris though) but that didnā€™t end well…and nor will this!

    Happy Christmas!

    1. Everhopeful
      December 21, 2020

      stupid iPad!
      * cheere ā€œ not cheers.
      AI knows better!!

  27. turboterrier
    December 21, 2020

    Sir John
    Thank you fore your tireless effort and time in all the work that you do especially running this site. At times it has seemed like the only beacon in the raging storms that surround us.
    Not that we all agree with everything and everyone but your blog is akin to the senior staff walking the talk on a daily basis to keep everybody informed and listen to their feedback. Not an easy task for the sensitive or faint hearted.

    I wish you and your family a very peaceful Christmas and a happy, healthy and satisfying new year. May you achieve all your expectations .

    1. Lynn Atkinson
      December 22, 2020

      Hopes please – not expectations. My expectations are pretty grim.

  28. Nivek
    December 21, 2020

    “there are some who have been isolated too much and are fighting loneliness as they seek to shield themselves from the virus.”

    “I think many will find a way to relax and to enjoy some of the features of a normal Christmas within the new legal restraints.”

    I just wanted to juxtapose the above sentences to invite you, a legislator, to consider which of the highlighted motives has been the greater driver of British people’s behaviour in 2020.

    I would also be interested to know how your attitude to your Parliament’s statutes and your Party leadership’s decrees may have differed had the World Wide Web not been invented.

  29. Sakara Gold
    December 21, 2020

    I’ve heard that navy rum is a good preventative for the Chinese plague virus. I plan to try a course of it out this week šŸ™‚

    Seasons greetings to Sir John and those who post here, may you all live long and prosper!

    Sakara

    1. Peter
      December 21, 2020

      Woods 100 Navy rum – 57% alcohol. Reasonable price considering the strength. Goes well with ginger beer for a ā€˜dark and stormyā€™. More of a Summer drink for me. I will stick to whiskies and port.

  30. Polly
    December 21, 2020

    Mostly congratulatory messages…..

    Just like reading Pravda.

    Where are all the others ?

    Oh, in the delete folder !

    Polly

    1. Sea_Warrior
      December 22, 2020

      Why are leftists so darn miserable, Polly?

  31. Newmania
    December 21, 2020

    Well I would like to thank all the people who have spent 2020 being told they had it easy . Office workers.. As I well know the pressure and anxiety has been relentless , people have worked endless hours under difficult circumstances. Few working people have simply toddled along .
    You will recall the Conservative Party, in its efforts to herd us back onto trains, were quick to throw class enmity into the mix, telling us how easy we had it compared to the hard working manual workers of the North ( etc) .Meanwhile they attacked teachers in unspeakable terms
    At around that time I was working 12 hour days while my wife was at school looking after the children of key workers .
    Happy Christmas my fellow idle good for nothing parasites .

    1. Narrow Shoulders
      December 21, 2020

      It has been a middle class lockdown @New and please don’t pretend otherwise.

      How are your savings after nine months of this?

      1. Narrow Shoulders
        December 21, 2020

        I too wish all on here well and am thankful for the respite but will save my festive greetings for the annual “night before Christmas” blog

  32. Cortona
    December 21, 2020

    You are a waking daily ritual for so many of us it seems, thanks so much for your hard work here as it is appreciated. Despite my scepticism I find engaging with MSM induces such negativity if Iā€™m not careful and your positivity cutting through their nonsense is helpful. A very Merry Christmas to you Sir John, I hope the New Year can bring much more cheer.

  33. Simeon
    December 21, 2020

    As others have noted, you do well by your constituents in a local context, and obviously work very hard with this site. I commend you for this.

    I wish you and everyone else as merry a Christmas as is possible in the circumstances. Sadly, for some, there will be no merriment or happiness, and for these I hope for whatever solace and comfort may be found. Above all, I hope that there would be time to reflect on the original Christmas story. The possibility that there might be something more than just this time and place is surely one worth exploring.

  34. Andy
    December 21, 2020

    Is it not ironic. For years Brexiteers have wanted to close our borders to keep Europeans out.

    Instead Europeans have closed the borders to shut us in.

    You have what you always wanted. The newspapers donā€™t seem to like it very much.

    And the rest of us are stuck on Brexit Island with a mutant virus and impending food shortages.

    Itā€™s like The Hunger Games.

    1. Lynn Atkinson
      December 21, 2020

      I love it! They closed the border while we remain in the single market and customs Union. May as well Leave!

    2. Edward2
      December 21, 2020

      Who wanted to close our borders?
      It was control over our borders, like all independent nations have, that was wanted.
      Open borders is a policy of chaos.

    3. battleaxe
      December 21, 2020

      That’s funny Andy. Well it made me smile.
      You forgot the coming power and water cuts though.

    4. graham1946
      December 21, 2020

      French shoot themselves in the head. Most trucks that are stuck are EU. British trucks having been notified did not leave their depots. This according to a major truck firm. Plenty of of other ports working normally, Dover is the smallest in total. People are not moving, goods are.

  35. The Prangwizard
    December 21, 2020

    Government shambles again. Weak, incompetent, always in reaction mode. Here we now have England subject to a blockade. Shapps playing it down as is if nothing is amiss and saying each country has the right to do what it wishes when asked if the French have over-reacted. A pathetic limp-wristed response – pretending to be ‘reasonable’ I suppose. Also there’s no problem because only 20% of our trade goes through Dover he says. Weak weak weak. Who defends our interests? Not your hopeless government.

    We have France in particular playing hard ball. No doubt seeking concessions before the blockade is lifted. No doubt they will get them.

    They close their borders, we leave ours open and do nothing.

  36. John Miller
    December 21, 2020

    Good morning Sir John.

    I wish you and all of your commenters a Happy Christmas and New Year.

    I always start my day reading your diary. I don’t always agree with your views, but you are one of the very few politicians who seem interested in the views of the common weal and for that you deserve our thanks.

  37. JohnE
    December 21, 2020

    Thank you for the good wishes, and I hope you get some time to relax over the Christmas weekend.
    And not just because a little rest and reflection for all of us may let calmer heads make better decisions in the New Year. Headless chicken mode hasn’t served us well this year.

  38. ian@Barkham
    December 21, 2020

    Good morning Sir John

    Thank you for your kind message. I wish you and yours the very best for Christmas and a Happy, Prosperous and Free New Year

    Like everyone Christmas will be different for us. My son who works for a local Berkshire company and because of that work is trapped in the US. So Christmas Dinner will be a Skype affair.

    1. ian@Barkham
      December 21, 2020

      I must add to that your work and energy with this Blog always impresses.

      I wish your followers and additional contributors to this blog Season Greetings. Yes even those that are dedicated to act as the worlds sponges and suck the life from positive thoughts

  39. hefner
    December 21, 2020

    Sir John, thanks for this uplifting message.
    Best wishes to all. Have the best Christmas possible.

  40. roger parkin
    December 21, 2020

    Thank you John and best wishes to you and your family for Christmas and hopefully a more normal New Year. You have kept us informed and applied your most sensible logic on so many issues during the past year thank you. Going forward I implore you to help us get a proper full Brexit (we have endured too much for anything less) and to encourage the government to pursue lower taxes and reduce the tremendous public sector waste in order to stabilise the countries finances.

  41. Mike Wilson
    December 21, 2020

    It seems churlish to respond with anything other than reciprocating the seasonal greetings. So, Merry Christmas.

    But, the government hysteria over the ā€˜mutant strainā€™ has cut us off from the outside world and our (my wife and I) have had our Christmas cancelled by the hysterical government. We were going to our sonā€™s house in Wokingham – so we have no food in, having cancelled our delivery slot. Looking at the lorry queues this morning, the shops will no doubt be like a madhouse today. It doesnā€™t feel very merry.

  42. Mike Stallard
    December 21, 2020

    A very Happy and Merry Christmas to you, Sir John, and thank you for all your hard work on this excellent and very down to earth blog over this very difficult year.

  43. Pete
    December 21, 2020

    My Christmas greeting is-
    The NHS is the emptiest it’s been for years, the economy is shuutered and going to collapse as soon as the money tap is turned off and hyperinflation starts, food supplies are dangerously low, you’re about to be injected with untested, experimental vaccines that nobody has the slightest clue of their effects, our leaders are so dishonest and criminal that they are the biggest threat to life and liberty on Earth, 75% of the people are so dumbed down, addled and sickened with poisons that they are sleep walking into absolute disaster.
    Merry Christmas people- you have all allowed this to happen. 2021 will be the year that globalists dreams come true, yours will not.

  44. glen cullen
    December 21, 2020

    Sir John I appreciate everything youā€™ve done for democracy, people of UK and the reader/posters to your forum

    I hope that 2021 seeā€™s you in high office

    Merry Christmas

  45. alastair harris
    December 21, 2020

    spare a thought for people who have exhausted the covid mortgage holiday but still find their monthly income reduced due to part time working caused by the restrictions!

  46. Peter
    December 21, 2020

    A very merry Christmas to you too Sir John. Many thanks for running this diary and all the efforts you put in. It is a sadly getting scarcer sort of interchange with great contributors, and Andy!
    Let’s hope next year sees a return to some sort of normality!

    1. Peter
      December 21, 2020

      Merry Christmas other Peter…

      and Andy.

  47. Frances Truscott
    December 21, 2020

    Well I have given up my son for a long long time. He lives alone an hour and a half away by taxi. We have decided that he should bubble with a long term friend who also lives alone and lives near him. He has more possibility of human company by bubbling with his friend.
    I even have stocking fillers for him and he has no food because he was going to eat here.

  48. Lets Buy British
    December 21, 2020

    Sir John
    Thank you for your much needed positivity throughout this year.
    I feel sure that 2021 will show the UK to have a bright future after a few bumps in the road in the first half.
    God bless and keep well
    Colin

  49. Geoff not Hoon
    December 21, 2020

    Sir John,
    I may be here in the heart of Plyd Country but your blog is still my first read every day as it has been since……a long time ago! Here’s to a peaceful Christmas to you and your’s and may we all look forward to a brighter EU free New Year.

  50. Ian Wragg
    December 21, 2020

    A very happy Christmas to you and your family.
    I see today wee Krankie is calling for a transition extension due to Covid.
    Don’t they ever give up.

  51. MikeP
    December 21, 2020

    Thank you for your heartfelt message Sir John and thank you for all your hard work for us and other constituents of Wokingham, for the wider contributions you make in Parliament and via this uniquely informative blog.
    Merry Christmas and keep up the fight in 2021 in all those areas where your analysis and sanity seems not to be shared by our Government.

  52. Enigma
    December 21, 2020

    Sir John, thank you for all your hard work this year, it has not gone unappreciated, particularly your diary which has taught me a lot. I am very grateful that you are my MP.

  53. JayGee
    December 21, 2020

    You wanted splending isolation – you’ve got it.

    You wanted to end the free movement of people – you’ve got it. Thrust upon you by all those EU countries you don’t wish to be part of your bubble. Who needs the EU when in a crisis?

    You wanted to take back control of our borders – you lost it. As above.

    You wanted to control fish – good luck with persuading the Brits to eat all that fish that will now be taught how to behave. That’s all that’s left for you to sort. Just make sure the fish is delivered to people who may need it in the very near future.

    Merry Christmas? I don’t see it as being likely to be merry for most people. The prosperous New Year seems to have disappeared too.

    Humbug anyone?

    1. JayGee
      December 21, 2020

      splending = splendid

      1. JayGee
        December 21, 2020

        You can accept a correction but my post can’t make it past moderation. Is that something that often happens? Is it a software faiure?

    2. Lynn Atkinson
      December 22, 2020

      Our border is open, we can go anywhere in the world from Dover. Itā€™s the Isolationist and Protectionist EU that has closed it border to what is still deemed an EU member (until 31st).
      So all your hatred should be steered that way – have have left their own lorry drivers stranded on a ā€˜foreign shoreā€™ šŸ˜‚ but Verhofstad, in a very high voice tole the EU Parliament ā€˜DONā€™T PANIC!ā€™ šŸ¤¦
      Merry Christmas!

  54. Nigl
    December 21, 2020

    Off topic. Critical article in Der Spiegel about the slowness of vaccine roll out across the EU, putting political cohesion above peopleā€™s lives and comparing it with the so called incompetent Trump administration rolling out tens of millions.

    No mention that we we were well in front of Europe as well. Funny that.

    1. Andy
      December 21, 2020

      You left. The EMA is, rightly, worried not just about the safety of the vaccine but public confidence in it. By rushing it through here, we have simply confirmed the fears of the very many anti-vaxxers. The same sort of people who reject climate change and promote Brexit. In the long run the EMA strategy will prove more effective.

      1. Edward2
        December 22, 2020

        Nonsense andy.
        It has been rushed through in Europe.
        Normally the EMA take years to approve something.
        It just took gave in after Merkel shouted at them.

  55. Jack Falstaff
    December 21, 2020

    And the best of season’s greetings to our much-appreciated host.

    But back to current affairs, where the melodramatic decline of a once-great nation continues.

    Following yesterday’s re-enactment of the Fall of Saigon as latterday suited refugees fled London, today brings us news of how inbound freight from Europe will cease forthwith.

    Will this hail the advent of a new Berlin Airlift to save a nation of petrified snowflakes from imminent starvation?

    Don’t worry, I’m sure there’ll be some new dancing/cooking/survival contest on TV we can all obsess with so the ghastly uncomfiness of real life just fades into a horrid dream.

    Beware the ghost of Charles Darwin!

  56. Roy Grainger
    December 21, 2020

    Hancocks’s blatant scaremongering using dodgy data from an Imperial College model (“70% more transmissable”) has backfired quite spectacularly hasn’t it. If it turns out to be nowhere near 70% he must resign mustn’t he ?

    1. Iain gill
      December 21, 2020

      How do professor Ferguson and Dido Harding stay in work? Even their chums in the conservative party must realise by now how useless they are.

      1. Lifelogic
        December 21, 2020

        How indeed? Google Prof Fergusonā€™s past predictions on Swine flu, BSE, Bird Flu, Foot and Mouth etc. …… totally hopeless.

        1. DaveK
          December 22, 2020

          Everyone especially Londoners need to know: Announcing the new Tier Four restrictions, Boris Johnson blamed the new Covid strain and said ‘it may be up to 70 per cent more transmissible than the old variant’.
          He also said the new virus could boost the reproduction rate ā€“ known as R ā€“ by 0.4. When R is above 1 the virus is increasing. If it is below 1, it is decreasing.
          Mr Johnson said the figure, which came from analysis by government advisory body The New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), was ‘early data’ and ‘subject to review’. You will see the most famous modeller in the country is in this group. https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/new-and-emerging-respiratory-virus-threats-advisory-group

    2. Lifelogic
      December 21, 2020

      I think Imperial said 71%. Hancock did not at one point even understand what the ā€œfalse positive rateā€ of the PCR test actually meant! Looking at the reported covid ā€œdeathsā€ many of which are clearly not covid (unless some miracle has occurred in the NHS on other causes of death recently) it seems this new mutation is not a serious risk to life for most people. A good free vaccine perhaps for most people?

      Perhaps the best lesson to learn from Covid 19 is do not run a dire, state monopoly, top down, communist National Heath Service and do not have PPE graduates to run it. Hancock, Hunt, Cameron and Simon Stevens types. They are not qualified nor suitable – second hand car sales people perhaps?

  57. ChrisS
    December 21, 2020

    I would like to wish our host and everyone else posting on this now not-so-small community as nice a Christmas as any of us can manage.

    We will have a quiet time with just our younger son and his partner for lunch. As he is a professional chef, he has volunteered to do the cooking ! Our other son is living and working in Thailand, doing a sterling job of developing the branch of our business out there. He will be spending Christmas day sailing over to the sandy beach of a beautiful near-deserted island.

    Being semi retired, I’ve spent recent weeks building a model railway for a very nice little six year old lad who is mad keen on trains. The virus has altered our plans but some things simply cannot be changed ! Fortunately we are still in tier 2 so I’m delivering it and setting it up in secret on the afternoon of Christmas eve while the family are all out.
    The little boy won’t see it until Christmas morning and it will reminds me of a certain christmas some 64 years ago……

    Enjoy your day and lets all look forward to a far, far better 2021.

  58. glen cullen
    December 21, 2020

    In 2021 please tell Boris its better to have a bad party in government that tells the truth rather than a good party in government that tells lieā€™s

    1. Lifelogic
      December 21, 2020

      Indeed and no deal is far, far better than caving in as he clearly intends too. Also that we cannot afford HS2, lockdown2 or his (or is it Carrieā€™s?) insane green crap agenda.

  59. Christine
    December 21, 2020

    Merry Christmas to you Sir John.

    Thank you for all the work you do sharing this diary and reading our comments.

    Allowing us to voice ideas and opinions to the many like-minded people who regularly take time to contribute here has been therapeutic in these troubled times.

  60. Iago
    December 21, 2020

    A contract has been already been awarded by the government for a Covid Certification Passport! Er, phwaarh, alas, etc.

    1. Lifelogic
      December 21, 2020

      Compulsory potentially dangerous medical experimentation on people by the back door it seems.

    2. Peter Parsons
      December 21, 2020

      Not true if you read the contracts in question (which are available in the public domain for anyone to examine).

      What’s been awarded are two contracts to develop an app where someone taking a Covid test can scan a QR code and have the result of the test sent straight to the app.

      1. DaveK
        December 22, 2020

        Poor PR to name it Covid-19 Certification/Passport MVP then. And the description could be clearer – Develop a negative Covid-19 test certification minimum viable product.

        So not a negative Covid-19 test passport then.

        Are you Humpty Dumpty?

        1. Peter Parsons
          December 22, 2020

          “Negative test certification” is not the same as “vaccine passport”.

          A real (paper-based) Covid-19 vaccination record card has already been created and is being issued to those being vaccinated.

  61. John Hatfield
    December 21, 2020

    Merry Christmas, Sir John.
    Thank you for all your hard work this year.
    John H.

    1. Lifelogic
      December 21, 2020

      +1

  62. agricola
    December 21, 2020

    A Merry Christmas to you Sir John. While we enjoy that thought along come the Frogs in their usual disruptive way and we are into a Cobra meeting. Were I only in control. No more Brexit discussions, end of negotiation and a WTO solution. Then close all traffic between UK and France indefinitely, ports, airports , and tunnel. Divert all continental freight traffic via Belgium ,Holland, and Santander/Plymouth. 150% drive to replace all french food imports with other sources from around the World. Total block on all french fishing boats in UK waters. If they wish to argue about it the Royal Navy to oblige. As you might guess I have had it up to here with this negotiation and EU tactics, end it now.

  63. Lucyna Cavendish
    December 21, 2020

    Dear Sir John,

    Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

    Lu Cavendish

  64. Jack Falstaff
    December 21, 2020

    Encouraging that at least the French Health Service has still got a sense of humour in these dark times: they have described President Macron as “stable”!

  65. Lynn Atkinson
    December 21, 2020

    Merry Christmas Sir John. Thank you for affording us access to you wisdom and important analysis through these life or death times. Merry Christmas to all who post who have the best interests of the U.K. at heart.
    We all need to rest and recharge. 2021 likely to be a real challenge on a number of fronts, but we are ready for it. We will fight for that which we value, and win.

  66. The Prangwizard
    December 21, 2020

    Forgot to add to my earlier comment that the attempt of the authoritarian cold eyed and incompetent Hancock to frighten everyone with the variant has caused untold long-term damage to the reputation of our country, to business and individuals.

    He must resign or be sacked immediately.

  67. Barbara
    December 21, 2020

    A very Merry Christmas to you too, Sir John. Thank you too for your informative daily blog, which must take up a lot of your time and energy. It is greatly appreciated.

  68. Christine Marland
    December 21, 2020

    Merry Christmas Sir John. Many thanks for all the research and effort that goes into your work as an MP, but also on this site. Your knowledge, questions and insights into Brexit, the economy and many other issues has been so important. The U.K. has needed your unfailing desire to nail the various points in an argument, to putting the facts clearly and indefatigably. I believe there is a wide audience for this site and many in the cabinet and civil service will read it – whether they agree or not – the views and the points have been aired. With best wishes for you, your family and friends in 2021.

  69. Sharon
    December 21, 2020

    Looking around the newspapers today I would question why Matt Hancock and Boris handed the EU the most wonderful weapon…of this new strain… to hit us round the face!

    The sick man of Britain, Covid Island!

    Theyā€™ve really handed them the best weapon everā€™

    Merry Christmas all!

    1. DaveK
      December 22, 2020

      Yet this didn’t warrant a mention:

      In October a study suggested that a coronavirus variant that originated in Spanish farm workers spread rapidly throughout Europe and accounted for most UK cases.

      The variant, called 20A.EU1, is known to have spread from farm workers to local populations in Spain in June and July, with people then returning from holiday in Spain most likely playing a key role in spreading the strain across Europe.

      We are being had.

  70. Diane
    December 21, 2020

    I heartily join others Sir John with thanks for what is a civilised, frank and enlightening discussion forum & for your personal dedication & knowledge and the reading of opinions of others is much appreciated. You give us all a voice when we need it. So much common sense & food for thought. Shouting at the newspapers and the TV from the sofa can be rather wearing. As the clock ticks, full support and trust in Mark Francois’s statements made in his Sunday Telegraph article yesterday.
    Best wishes for Christmas and for better times in 2021, to you and your family.

  71. Fred H
    December 21, 2020

    Brexit talks -The ‘most important 48 hours’ has now passed.
    Nobody blinked.
    At what stage will the match foghorn hooter go off, and the parties will snigger at one another and say in unison ‘we did it! nobody pulled out of talks’ .

    Bye bye, au revoir, auf wiedersehen.

    A year long theatrical farce.

    1. Fred H
      December 21, 2020

      not coping well with criticism of the Government, Sir John?

  72. Henry Neild
    December 21, 2020

    Thank-you Sir John for all you posts of common-sense which I await daily. Have as good a Christmas as you can and what a great idea; a moratorium of no talking about Covid or Brexit over the festive period. We all need a break from it. All Best – Henry.

  73. Excalibur
    December 21, 2020

    You come across as a thoroughly honourable man, Sir John. It is a privilege to be able to express one’s views here. With others, I fail to understand how you manage to do all the work you do. A very enjoyable Christmas to you and yours.

    1. Lifelogic
      December 21, 2020

      Indeed he is honourable, honest and almost always right too. Only about 10-15% at best of MPs are all these things – by my estimate.

      1. Lynn Atkinson
        December 22, 2020

        Phew – 10% – you been at the whisky? šŸ˜‰

  74. Timaction
    December 21, 2020

    Merry Christmas and I hope you have a happy New Year Sir John.

  75. Ian
    December 21, 2020

    Dear Sir John,
    Thank you for your dally blog, full of common sence, a breath of fresh air, we are very greatful for all the work you put in on our behalfā€™s
    Best wishes to one and all , we will continue to hope that this government will carry out the will of Our people

  76. Wil Pretty
    December 21, 2020

    Christmas Greetings, Sir John.
    You are one of very few who merit the description Honourable Member.

    1. SM
      December 21, 2020

      Seconded.

  77. Jan Hoggarth
    December 21, 2020

    Merry Christmas to you and your family John, enjoy your break. Thank you for all your hard work this year and your efforts to keep the government on track.

    Happy New Year when it comes, hopefully there will be much to celebrate.

  78. DavidJ
    December 21, 2020

    Best wishes Sir John and thank you for your posts over the year. Perhaps you could persuade some of your fellow MPs to show the same commitment….

  79. glen cullen
    December 21, 2020

    Any Tory MP, Conservative Party member or Civil Servant that proposes or even suggests that there should be an UK/EU deal extension must be sacked immediately

  80. Helen Smith
    December 21, 2020

    Problem, couldnā€™t deliver presents to my son and his family due to lockdown.

    As a convenience store manager he has been working flat out but we intended to meet up on the 12th to swop presents.

    That had to be cancelled so we thought, leave it until we visit Christmas Eve.

    He is now in Tier 4 so that has been cancelled.

    So I still have all their presents here, and to compound things his wifeā€™s family live in Yorkshire, they were going to visit briefly Boxing Day, but of course, they canā€™t.

    I have sent a couple of presents via Amazon. So they have something to open.

    I am broadly supportive of Boris but his advisors, not so much, they have wrecked Christmas Day for so many, I canā€™t imagine my grandson will be the only child to find limited presents under the tree.

    I wouldnā€™t care, but I canā€™t see that lockdown is going to do anything but make things worse.

  81. DaveK
    December 21, 2020

    Sir John,

    Seasons Greetings, hope you enjoy it anyway.

    How’s this for a present:

    Covid-19 Certification/Passport MVP
    Department of Health and Social Care

    Published date: 18 December 2020

    Awarded opportunity – This means that the contract has been awarded to a supplier.
    Contract summary

    Industry: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

    Value of contract: Ā£34,000

    Description: Develop a negative Covid-19 test certification minimum viable product.

  82. Lifelogic
    December 21, 2020

    Boris Johnson ditches plan to decriminalise non-payment of the BBC propaganda tax (or TV licence fee as they dishonestly like to call it). It needs to be abolished not just decriminalised. The treacherous, left wing, pro EU, climate alarmist, propaganda outfit that is the BBC. These are the real liars & criminals.

  83. L Jones
    December 21, 2020

    I really would have preferred to wish my MP a happy Christmas. But over the past week she has overtly praised Mr Hancock for his ”energy” in actioning these ruinous policies that give hundreds of thousands of people (many in her own constituency) anything but a ”Happy Christmas”. She is culpable for and complicit in their despair and devastation by her support of the man whose ”energy” has ruined millions.
    So no – this wishing of ”Happy Christmas” , Sir John, rings very hollow so far as MPs are concerned.

  84. Richard II
    December 21, 2020

    Sir John, you have for months provided a voice of moderation and sanity in these extreme times, for which many thanks. Of course you don’t in every instance say what I would like to hear you say, but I do respect the way you have tried to find a moderate and sensible balance between the inevitably diverging views of your constituents on the Covid crisis. Sadly, I fear your managers at Westminster treat you and your colleagues with rather less respect than I feel you are due. From the Telegraph:

    ‘Sir Charles Walker, the vice-chair of the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs, said ministers ā€œknew on Thursday, possibly even Wednesday, that they were going to pull the plug on Christmas, but they waited till Parliament had goneā€.

    ā€œThat on top of everything else is a resigning matter,ā€ he said.’

    I hope you agree with your fellow MP.

  85. Freeborn John
    December 21, 2020

    Reuters is reporting that the U.K. is now offering to give away 2/3 of its fishing to the EU. The supine negotiating behaviour of this government is unbelievable. Boris needs to grow a backbone.

    https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-fisheries/eu-considers-fresh-proposal-on-fishing-rights-from-uk-bloomberg-news-idUKKBN28V2ML

    1. glen cullen
      December 21, 2020

      If you give in on everything, thatā€™s not negotiation thatā€™s capitulation

      1. Grey Friar
        December 22, 2020

        No glen, it is not capitulation, it is called negotiation from a VERY weak position. But you’re happy right, you voted for the Uk to be all on its own and the EU to be united as never before, right?

        Reply Nonsense. We voted to be free which you either do not understand or want

    2. Leino
      December 22, 2020

      Itā€™s Brexit. Itā€™s dreadful. You were warned. We told you that we do almost half our export trade with the EU, while they do only 6% of theirs with us, so we need them, they donā€™t needus. We are weak thanks to Brexit. You were warned. If you voted for it, blame only yourself, no one else

      Reply Nonsense

  86. Lifelogic
    December 21, 2020

    Transport Secretary Grant Shapps tells talkRADIO the decision made by the French to close the border is not a politically motivated move linked to ongoing Brexit negotiations.

    If you believe that Grant Shapps you are even dafter than I thought you were!

  87. Derek Henry
    December 21, 2020

    Merry Christmas John to you and your family as have a great new year.

    Everyone else who are regular readers of this diary. I hope you all have a well deserved break and relaxing time.

  88. steve
    December 21, 2020

    JR

    How nice of you to discuss Christmas.

    Unfortunately for me Christmas is shyte, It’s a waste of time, and frankly I don’t see why people make so much of sitting around a dead tree pretending to like each other.

  89. James Wallace-Dunlop
    December 21, 2020

    Thank you for your work and writing in 2020.

    Alas, I fear that your counsel may be ignored, and we may be about to sign up to a dreadful deal. Will we have to cross our fingers and hope that someone in the EU refuses to approve?

  90. Freeborn John
    December 21, 2020

    The Guardian and Daily Express are now reporting that the U.K. has pretty much surrendered on fishing accepting EU tariffs or the reopening of the entire trade agreement should the U.K. ever reduce EU fishing access below that agreed to now. An unstable one-side trade deal like this is simply unacceptable. Prepare to lose the next election.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/dec/21/boris-johnson-rejects-calls-extend-brexit-talks-2021

    1. Caterpillar
      December 21, 2020

      Freeborn John,

      It is another confirmation not to believe anything from or trust anyone in the current political parties. Losing the next election is unimportant, it just shuffling the cards and leaving the same system and same parties in place.

  91. Peter VAN LEEUWEN
    December 22, 2020

    Merry Christmas.
    Sorry for those who mow live under strict that conditions (tier 4).

Comments are closed.