Will Santa come for me?
May you all feel the excitement of Christmas.
( Hereâs one I prepared earlier)
WILL SANTA COME TONIGHT?
âWill Santa come? Will Santa come tonight?â âHe might. He might.
If you are good, he might.â
âCan I stay up and see?â
âNo. He will not come for you or me If we do not sleep . Heâs too busy to meet us all.â
âAnd will he come for us? If you go to sleep â he does not like fuss.â
Tonight, by the lights of the tree There is, at last, some grown up time for me.
The cake is iced. The wine is spiced .The carrots diced.
The puddingâs steamed. The brandy butter creamed.
The turkey prepared awaits. And yes, I did clean the plates.
The tree is up, the table laid, the cards are out , though the credit cardâs unpaid!
So shall I soon with gifts a plenty mount the stairs to deliver twenty?
Do I dare to tread the stair?
And will it creak? And will it creak? When can I take a peek?
I need to know if they slumber before I arrive with my lumber.
If they are still awake what dreams will go? What heart might break?
Or do they know? And is their belief just all for show?
So tonight by the magic tree there is need of more time just for me.
I will wait â and struggle to keep open my eyes
And wrestle with the morality of eating Santaâs mince pies.
My adult mind is full of Christmas chores
The cooking times, and the cards through neighboursâ doors
The parties with do not drink and drive in my ears
So the night does not end in tears
Drinks that might have been â but not that cheap red
Which would give me a headache as soon as I got to bed
I was once a child too excited to sleep with a torrent of thoughts about what I might be given
Hoping that it was a toy beneath the wrapping â should I peep? â
Not more socks or hankies, preferably something to be driven
So could Santa still come for me? Drowsily I dream as if I were eight Hoping that Santa would not be late
Like every little boy there is of course a much wanted toy
So will Santa come tonight? He might, He might. If you sleep well and if you believe
Only if you believe. And only if in your family Love fills the hours you will be spending.
It could be the true Santa on the stair
Or it could be someone from an empty chair.Â
So will Santa come? He will. He will.    Â
December 24, 2019
I wish you and your family a very Happy Christmas, and all the very best for the New Year. I very much enjoy reading your blog. Thank you for taking the time to keep us informed, when it is hard to get an unbiased view from others.
December 24, 2019
Seconded.
December 24, 2019
Indeed, and thanks for all your hard work, wisdom and effort. Letâs hope this new government will finally do the right things for once. At least we do not now have to fear the insane policies of a Corbyn/McDonnall dog government wagged by an SNP tail. Which makes Christmas far better.
December 24, 2019
LL, but vassalage to the EU is okay?
December 24, 2019
No.
December 24, 2019
Seconded.
December 24, 2019
I agree with Cheshire Girl.
Merry Christmas and I thank you too.
December 24, 2019
MERRY CHRISTMAS Sir John.
Congratulations on the best political (common sense) blog for the UK. Please keep up the good work, and just perhaps, we’ll move on from Brexit.
December 24, 2019
Thank you Sir John for an excellent blog with informed readers. Merry Christmas!
December 24, 2019
+1
December 24, 2019
Well if you tire of the day job you can turn to writing books for children. Nice poem, I wish you and your family well for Christmas and the New Year. We are moving into new ground in 2020, lets feel positive about it.
December 24, 2019
There could be a gap in the market now but the advice would be to keep off the chromosomes and stick strictly to make-believe.
December 24, 2019
I love this Christmas poem.
Suddenly realised…although it is lighter in subject matter it reminds me of Dr Rowan Williamâs much loved â Advent Calendarâ. He is obviously talking about a greater âcomingâ but IMO there is an echo of the same longing and half hopeful expectation. Very nice indeed.
Extremely happy that Boris ( it is said) will be highlighting Christian persecution in his Christmas speech….about time too!
HAPPY CHRISTMAS one and all and in the coming year may we move away from the darkness of the last few and into a lighter, happier place ( fingers crossed!).
December 24, 2019
Everhopeful: “Extremely happy that Boris ( it is said) will be highlighting Christian persecution in his Christmas speechâŠ.about time too!”
Christian persecution, by whom?
December 24, 2019
APL
Some years ago I met a very wise, lady missionary who travelled the world involved in Christian relief work.
She said to me …â One day soon Christians will be afraid to acknowledge their faith.â
News reports now back up that view.
Anyway donât worry…just listen to Boris. You may learn something!đ
December 25, 2019
Everhopeful: “She said to me âŠâ One day soon Christians will be afraid to acknowledge their faith.â”
No doubt she had grounds for her opinion.
But are we talking about Christians in Japan, or going to church in Saudi Arabia, or who knows, Christians in Bradford? Or perhaps Christians afraid of sectarian persecution by other Christian sects?
If we wish to allow Christians to practice their religion in peace, a good place to start would be to know who where and by whom they are being persecuted. No?
PS. Happy Christmas.
December 24, 2019
I do not suppose he will address the whom bit!
December 25, 2019
Lifelogic: “I do not suppose he will address the whom bit!”
The Arch Bishop of Canterbury will strike fear into those who attack Christians or Criticise Christian doctrine.
With leaders like that, Christians will have nothing to fear. [sarc. off]
December 24, 2019
Great post John. Thank you for taking the time to write these diaries. I find them most informative and a good indicator of how the general public feel about various topics. I wish you a great Christmas and new year.
December 24, 2019
Hear hear, well said Cheshire Girl — this blog is my first internet visit each morning. Happy Christmas Sir John and thank you.
December 24, 2019
‘Santa is a Capitalist invention to enslave the worker and turn his attention away from the grinding poverty and humiliation he suffers on an almost daily basis by ruthless penny pinching profiteers.’ Jeremy Corbyn, 2019.
If this person had achieved power we would now be facing a quite horrific future. Your job is now to prevent his party from ever getting close to power again. Permanent opposition is their rightful position
Merry Xmas to Mr Redwood, his wife and his family
December 24, 2019
Just read through the Labour Survey.
– Nationalisation
– 5% tax on ÂŁ80k
– Private Schools
– Free stuff
– Open Borders
You canât win elections by taking money off hard working families and giving it to minorities. Both the fiscal and electoral numbers donât add up.
You probably wonât remember but many years ago I suggested the perfect electoral policy was to flip and flop between the red and blue Conservatives. Well we had the Red Conservatives of May and Cameron now we get the Blue Conservatives for ten years.
The trick will be a faux civil war in 10 years and to flip back to the Red Conservatives.
December 24, 2019
We have had red fake Tories all my Life since Ted Heath. Even Thatcher failed to control the size of the state sector, closed any grammar schools, buried us further into the EU and then appointed the appalling dope John ERM Major.
Let is hope Boris is at long last different. I am far from sure he will be. But he has at least saved us from Corbyn/SNP and deserves a medal for that.
December 24, 2019
Wonderful. Have a good one, sir.
December 24, 2019
Happy Christmas to you and your family John, let us hope the New Year will also bring us some positive news and policies, that will benefit us all.
Many thanks for your daily blog, always interesting and informative.
December 24, 2019
Merry Christmas to you and all your family. Many thanks for these informative pages full of your thoughts, provoking discussion amongst us readers. Your work is not in vain.
December 24, 2019
Oh – forgot to mention: as an unskilled delivery driver from the EU I suspect this will be Santaâs penultimate year of visiting the UK before he is caught in Priti Patelâs authoritarian clampdown on foreigners.
And goodness knows what additional Brexit bureaucracy youâll need to bring flying reindeer to the UK from 2021 onwards.
December 24, 2019
Andy, Oh dear, your wit doesn’t improve even at Christmas does it?
December 24, 2019
I think they are all on zero hours contracts and tier one visas Andy so all will be well as it was before the EU, in the days of the EEC.
December 24, 2019
Good point. No-one in the UK had heard of Santa before 1973
December 24, 2019
Happy Christmas and New Year. May the Christmas message help all to think what they do , say and propose for the betterment of a more just and fair society.
December 24, 2019
Santa. One “Claus” Barnier can’t hide away in the text. Merry Christmas Sir John and your family. Thanks for the blog.
December 24, 2019
Merry Christmas Sir John and to all contributors to this blog.
May you all have a happy and peaceful one with those you hold dear, and may a small part of you, however old you are, always want to look towards the sky on Christmas Eve.
December 24, 2019
I wish a very Christmas to the Redwood family, and thanks for helping keep us sane through all the nonsense over brexit the last year.
When Santa comes I’m hoping he delivers a FTA with the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Chile and South Korea to start with.
I wonder what all those naughty remainers will do with all the coal they’ll receive?
December 24, 2019
Coal burns very well to produce very cheap, reliable and on demand energy. Something that some people in government seem to have forgotten. It can be really quite clean too (CO2 is off course clean anyway) I mean clean of other real pollutants.
December 24, 2019
Time for the Christmas truce and to wish the author of this blog, Sir John Redwood, a Merry Christmas. We also look forward in the new year to a critique of his government’s performance on delivery which the opposition parties are too ignorant and stupid to provide.
December 24, 2019
A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all, notwithstanding their politics …
December 24, 2019
Seconded.
December 24, 2019
Thank you Denis for your informative posts.
I always enjoy reading them.
I hope you have an enjoyable Christmas.
December 24, 2019
Merry Christmas to you and yours, here’s to a truly independent UK. I, too, am a daily reader of your diary, many thanks for your all informative blogs.
December 24, 2019
Thank you for your service to our country John and may that continue for many more years.
December 24, 2019
A very Merry Christmas to you Sir John. Your blog is an indispensable feature of my morning and a voice of sanity helping me ignore the unhelpful views of the MSM that just don’t reconcile with how people of all political persuasions live their lives.
One of your contributors recommended the David Starkey video that made sense of the last few depressing years of political chaos and gives me hope that it has served a purpose. I lived in Italy and never thought I would envy their political stability so letâs hope that ugly chapter is closed. Thanks for your optimism and intelligent analysis, I donât often contribute but do appreciate it every day.
December 24, 2019
Thatâs exactly how I feel too.
Merry Christmas!
December 24, 2019
Sir John,
Christmas and New Year cheer to you! – Enjoy the break.
December 24, 2019
”Do you think there’s more than one Santa, Holmes ?”
etc
Reply A new low from you to try to use a happy message for a holiday as part of your campaign against a particular individual. I am not going to publish your ad hominem attacks so will you please stop trying to post them.
December 24, 2019
Santa is a special story to bring magic to young children’s lives. Too often badly needed for those affected by poverty, violence, religious persecution and illness.
Adults try to keep the story alive until other children spill the beans, or a family member is found placing ‘Santa’s present’.
A time of year to put the everyday troubles behind us, and to wish the best of times to everyone. If we can give presents, spend time with family, hopefully eat something special together, then the celebration need not be a particular religious festival that can divide.
I wish you all a happy time, and a healthy New Year.
December 24, 2019
Happy Christmas John for you and your family. Let’s hope your party does the right thing in 2020 and rid us of the dead hand of the EU.
.
December 24, 2019
Magical!
December 24, 2019
I wish you and your family a Happy Christmas and New Year. Your most sensible and informative blog is my first port of call every morning. Thank you for your hard work.
December 24, 2019
I would like Santa to bring some realism, some honesty and some humility to your contributors.
I read yesterday someone make the bizarre and untrue claim that the EU had banned Brazil nuts from being sold in their shells. What nonsense.
I read all the time elderly contributors dismissing the biggest issue facing our children and grandchildren as greencrap.
I see lots of people telling us to shut up because they won. Even though they canât figure out what it is they won.
Letâs have a 2020 free from untruth. One in which issues are properly considered on their merits and not on the basis of rumour. And a genuine engagement with everyone – not just the Conservative minority.
Merry New Year.
December 24, 2019
Letâs have a 2020 when certain people finally accept democracy.
Merry Brexmas.
December 24, 2019
Andy, John is a Conservative MP so it is not surprising that most contributors on this site are Conservatives. If you don’t like it then you don’t have to read or participate.
December 24, 2019
Let’s have a 2020 when all disloyal people like you openly admit that what really they want is for the UK, or fragments thereof, to be swallowed up into a sovereign federal United States of Europe, rather than constantly inventing specious reasons for staying in the EU and so continuing to be involved in its inexorable process of “ever closer union”, eurofederalisation by another name.
What you said in August 2018:
http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2018/08/07/spending-the-39-bn-cutting-vat/#comment-953087
“I was born in London in 1973. But I have been an EU citizens all of my adult life. I have lived and worked and studied in the EU. I am a European before I a Briton and angry pensioners are ever going to change that.”
Part of my reply:
“So at least you frankly admit that your primary loyalty is to the EU and not to your own country, unlike many members of Parliament who feel the same way but pretend to be British patriots.”
And unlike other eurofederalists who post comments here.
December 24, 2019
Exactly – as usual he (like more EU supporters) confuses âEuropeanâ with the dire EU. I for one love Europe, the British are clearly European (indeed I in Italy currently), my wife is Italian and we have property in France and Italy). We do therefore see first hand the huge damage the dire bureaucratic, anti-democratic, red tape spewing, one size fits all, EURO and ERM pushing, socialist EU does and did – and not just to the UK.
December 24, 2019
Exactly, I live in Spain. The people are great and flying in Spain is a revelation. Apart from some excellent roads and railways the EU has done nothing to solve the horrendous unemployment situation in Spain during all 27 years I have lived here. Doctrinaire, one size fits all socialism has been an abysmal failure. The Spanish deserve much better but the EU is not the instrument to provide it.
December 24, 2019
Exactly.
December 24, 2019
What total nonsense. Being in the EU has not made France less French or Germany less German. There is absolutely nothing wrong with friendly nations working closely together to the common good. EU citizenship is a wonderful right – and you are stealing it from your children and grandchildren. Our generation will never forgive your generation. And – one day – we will undo it.
As for the EU being âsocialistâ. It is ironic that socialists donât like the EU because it is too capitalist. Indeed – irony of irony – the EUâs single market is indeed perhaps the purest form of Thatcherism around today. She won. And those Brexiteers claiming to act in her name are snatching defeat for Britain from the jaws of her European victory.
There is now nowhere for you Brexiteers to hide. It is now all your fault. 30 years of raging against Brussels and you now have to put everything you claimed was wrong right. You have, perhaps, 10 years. To be frank I donât think you have a chance. The first time Brexit voters have to fill in and pay for their ETIAS visa waivers just to travel to Spain you are going to start losing support big time. The first time they face customs checks or import duties on goods they buy online from Poland you lose more. But itâs for you now to try to work out the contradictions in your plans. It is for you to make excuses to fishermen when they are sold out. When the car manufacturers move factories it is now your problem.
Globalisation has never been perfect. The EU is far from perfect. But the alternatives are worse. As you are all about to prove. Much to my amusement. And I remain a proud EU citizen. You can strip me of my legal rights but my identity remains.
December 24, 2019
Usual deceitful claptrap. You are part of a small disaffected minority who believe in European federation and are quite prepared to lie and cheat to impose it on the rest of us. Now the great majority of UK citizens who do not want that legal subordination of their homeland have at last had their chance to put a stop to your game, and that is what they have done. If you don’t like that, if you put loyalty to the EU project above all else, then you can either lump it or you can just leave. You are free to go at any time you like, why not apply to become a citizen of another country and renounce your UK citizenship?
December 24, 2019
If you’re good enough and qualified enough then you can ALWAYS get EU citizenship, even with Brexit. If you’re not good enough then what right do you have to inflict yourself on the Germans or the French ?
We are not depriving the children of anything. They’re just going to have to be useful to Europeans if they want to live and work there.
Brexit is about being able to reject people who are NOT good enough – as all countries should be allowed to do. We already have plenty of those of our own.
Remainers always invoke ‘the children’. It’s a tactic used mainly by women, I note. For your information I was thinking about my children when I voted Brexit.
December 25, 2019
I too was thinking about my children and indeed about what I thought was best for the UK and for Europe when I supported Brexit.
December 24, 2019
Calm down Andy.
It is Christmas.
You are getting obsessed.
December 24, 2019
If I was an EU-federalist I wouldn’t be unhappy with the situation. With the UK out the EU will be able to integrate economically and politically, as it needs to do to make the euro work, and as it’s always in reality intended to do. If brexit is not perceived to be broadly a success – and if integration within the EU does bring stability and prosperity such as is lacking now, there will indeed be pressure for the UK to rejoin. So I agree with you that the onus is on the Brexit-supporting Conservative govt to make sure it is a success for the broad mass of the population.
If in some years time UK voters look at the further integrated EU and decide we’d be better off in, we would then have to join properly, euro included and no opt outs etc. Either way relations between the UK and the EU will be better – we’ll either be out with a sensible FTA and other cooperation or we will be back in as full members. Nor, if the second comes to pass will there then be any residual euroscepticism – it will have shot it’s bolt.
So I’d suggest seeing how things pan out. It all depends how things go as to which eventual route the UK takes.
December 24, 2019
Try taking your hard to swallow “grapes”.
Put them in a blender with plenty of sugar. Blend until thoroughly mixed.
Instant resolution for sour-grapes.
Or should it be sour-gripes?
December 24, 2019
Hey Andy
We are having a Brexit Christmas Dinner
No Brussels
December 24, 2019
Andy believes in being young which is probably why he thinks we still live in 1974
Goods flow across borders all over the world without any disruption
Many of us travel extensively to non EU countries where taking the 1 minute 30 seconds to fill out an online visa form is simplicity itself
“YOUR GENERATION”? You are 45 most of YOUR generation voted to leave
The single market in goods IS NOT A FREE MARKET , therefore its not remotely Thatcherism . The FTA between USA and Canada is much more like it.
Yes, youre a “proud EU citizen” and the UK is going to hell in a handcart so one wonders why thinking that you actually stay here and dont move to France thereby freeing yourself and your kids and asserting your EU citizen rights . Its probably because you are a complete …..
Happy Christmas Andy , dont choke on your Brussels
December 24, 2019
Just been catching up on the political studies association awards 2019 ……..
ââ RT Hon David Gauke MP awarded Politician of the Year
RT Hon Hilary Benn MP awarded Parliamentarian of the Year.
RT Hon Anna Soubry MP awarded for Political Courage
RT Hon John Bercow awarded Lifetime Achievement in Politicsââ
Good grief.
Thankfully most of them but unfortunately not all of them got an early Christmas present on December 12th.
Happy Christmas Sir John and hopefully a meaningful Brexit in 2020.
December 24, 2019
Appalling, anti-democratic people who were surely acting as traitors to the interests of the UK. This after most of them having been elected on a âwe will deliver Brexitâ ticket plus one who should have been acting as an honest & neutral referee not at all what he did. Let us hope he is never, ever put in the Lords – it is stuffed with far too many appalling people rather like him already. It seems the Supreme Court is too.
December 24, 2019
Ok but it is quite funny.
I always had a high regard for David Gauke he always sounded sensible. But he did seem to go rather bonkers over brexit. If he really thought it that disastrous he should simply have campaigned for revoke (and opposed the referendum in the first place). I don’t understand why such politicians thought Brino would be any kind of solution.
December 24, 2019
‘appy Kwissmuss. As they say in EastEnders.
December 24, 2019
As a small child in a village I swore I’d heard jingle bells at midnight on Christmas Eve. Every Christmas we lived in the village. Nobody believed me. I was just a little girl.
Years later the retired teacher, spinster, who rented half a farm house across from ours passed away. She wasn’t the sociable type, nobody knew her well. When her things were being cleared they found a cubby hole behind the wardrobe in which they found a bag of jungle bells. And all of us who’d been disbelieved children smiled to know she’d walked miles in the dark on Christmas Eve from village to village shaking those bells outside houses where there were children.
December 24, 2019
How very sweet of her đ
December 24, 2019
Thank you very much for that, and all your wise and thought provoking words over the past year. I hope you and your family have a very happy Christmas.
December 24, 2019
Merry Christmas to you Sir John and your family, and thank you for taking the time to publish your diary.
Itâs beginning to sink in that the last few years of chaos are over and the clouds are lifting
Merry Christmas !
December 24, 2019
Found a lost lady wandering around.
Asked where she was going.
Turned out she was looking for the salvation army place to go and help the homeless over Christmas, but could not find it.
I walked her there, a ten minute walk. She was a recently retired children’s cancer nurse.
Complete salt of the earth, and exactly the kind of person that keeps this country going.
I was left humbled, but glad to have met her for that ten minutes.
I wish her all the best.
She is exactly the kind of person who should get on the honours list, but of course it’s unlikely.
I hope she has a good Christmas.
December 24, 2019
Thank you, Sir John for your daily insightful blog. So often the voice of reason in the murky politics of Westminster.
I wish you and yours a very happy Christmas and successful year ahead.
December 24, 2019
Happy Christmas Sir John, Santa gave me the best present ever around 10.01 pm on December 12th.
December 25, 2019
Indeed. But I am rather greedy we all need yet another present. We need Boris to come out as a small government, low tax, pro business, pro jobs, red tape burning, real Brexit delivering PM who goes for cheap & reliable, on demand energy. In shore a real Conservative. He can be a great PM or he can be another dire socialist failure in the Major, Blair, Brown, Cameron May tradition. Time for him to choose. We will know very soon. If continues with HS2 or is still wittering on about carbon neutrality and green crap it will be a very bad sign indeed.
Singapore 9 marks or Venezuela/Corbyn 0 marks, so where is Boris on this scale? I would say about 3 so far.
December 24, 2019
I never knew you had this hidden talent JR, very good! A Happy Crimbo to you and all contributors to this excellent daily blog.
December 24, 2019
Happy Christmas John and many thanks for all your hard work.
December 24, 2019
Thank you Sir John for your excellent daily articles.
I learn a lot and enjoy reading your views very much.
I realise you are one of those experts who has, over many years got their predictions pretty much spot on.
Happy Christmas.
December 24, 2019
For commenters on this site that have a high dependency on the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) for their income; Brexit, soft and definitely not hard, is not going to do you any favours.
The four to five percent of GDP government spending spree announced will have to be financed 85% by spending cuts across government departments. The DWP will be the prime target for cuts. A neo-liberal Conservative government is ideologically prevented from running a large budget deficit. It doesn’t do “deficit spending”.
December 26, 2019
You really think the Conservatives who have a mature aged voter base will revoke their triple lock promise on pensions?
It isn’t going to happen.
December 24, 2019
Merry Christmas đ have fun and I hope you get a relaxing holiday.
December 24, 2019
Well, the year ended well and the future looks much brighter.
Merry Christmas to John, all readers and your families.