“Pour me another,  lets toast the new year
Here’s to a better, put  fizz in our cheer”
Tonight’s not for sorrows, nor mulling old wounds
Come banish our troubles,  lets sing some new tunes
Caught in the present is a moment to choose
To look forwards or backwards, to win or to lose
If your comfort is clinging to all that has past
This precious moment of hope will never last
Grasping  the future and its unknown way
Can bring success and many a wonderful day
The past is well trodden, we know the ending
The future is for moulding, shaping, bending
As last year expires,  hopes and promises broken
Change things this time , leave pledges unspoken
So pour me another, drink to the new year
Here’s to a better, put fizz in our cheer
If your life is a drama you can change the plot
If your friends are the  actors you can recast the lot
If people around you are holding you back
Tell them you’re changing, to a new track
Lets hold on to clichés that drive us to more
Lets venture out from  behind that closed door
We can stretch for the stars and strive for the sun
We can soar with  the wind making life more fun
You are only out of the game  when you give up the play
So write some new words so you have a new  say
Aim for something better, embrace the best
You may fall short of target  but gain from the quest
So cast off the old. Live a new dream
Grab the future foretold. Mine a new seam
So pour me another, lets toast the new year
Here’s to a better, put fizz in our cheer
Trust that tomorrow can be better than today
Let the future  empower us with its  new way
Lets cast off from austerity, from all those extra taxes
Lets go for growth as austerity relaxes
Lets make our own minds up and set our own pace
The future is only ours, my friend, if it we embrace
Tonight is the night is to put on a new face
So pour me another, lets toast the new year
Here’s to a better, put fizz in our cheer.
December 31, 2023
The political class has let us down so many times how do you expect us to feel positive. I was jubilant after the 2016 vote to leave the EU but where are we now? One good thing has been the recent passing of the Animal Welfare (live exports) Bill but so much more should have been achieved. The will was there for 52%+ of us but not in Westminster apparently. I have no feelings of joy for the coming year only to try to keep my health going as since having the jabs, I have had nothing but one problem after another and am wondering if Andrew Bridgen is correct in his views.
December 31, 2023
I share your joy about live shipment but (maybe you are a vegetarian?) it fits in with the agenda.
They want to do away with meat and it is ramping up.
I do not want to eat globally blessed insect/ veg/ fake protein.
I notice however that a famous TV chef whilst avidly promoting vegetarian meals “fry’s off” his onions in butter.
Not much of that without cows.
December 31, 2023
Happy New Year to you too, Sir John, and thank you for your well informed and thoughtful diary, a unique contribution to UK politics.
December 31, 2023
Widely agreed with appreciation.
December 31, 2023
Great sentimants, can’t fault them, a very Happy New Year to you.🍻🍾🥂.
December 31, 2023
The best one yet.Lovely couplets.
For me being unable to enjoy family and Christmas due to COVID :I am glad it’s over,but yesterday there were hints of a new year to come and fresh air without rain.I spent an hour in the garden feeling a whole sense of relief whilst plucking the weeds from a gravel path and grass from a moss bank.
Happy New Year.
December 31, 2023
A VERY HAPPY & HEALTHY NEW YEAR TO YOU.
My very Best Wishes for 2024 that I am sure is going to be a very important year for you.
December 31, 2023
Great message Paul. Good luck John in 2024.
December 31, 2023
Goodbye and good riddance to a terrible year for my family.
Serious health issues, lost jobs, derisory politics, miserable world and financial worries to come.
A shocker…
It can only get better? really?
December 31, 2023
”Goodbye and good riddance to a terrible year” – a terrible term of parliament
I share in your grief and wish that 2024 might be a little better
December 31, 2023
Happy New year John, many thanks for the informative daily postings, and for your many positive suggestions on what should be Government policy.
December 31, 2023
Every person can choose the new shortest path to better on any day throughout their life.
Many need a new year to motivate them.
We all can change choices for better circumstances, making a Happier New Year closer for all.
December 31, 2023
I wonder what they’ve* got in store for 2024?
A wild guess might tell us we’ll be worse off than before!
Guaranteed!
* Whoever it is that is actually in charge.
December 31, 2023
Happy New Year to Sir John who is a perfect example of what an MP aught to be. Pity so few have the wherewithall to follow him.
Happy New Year also to all who read this blog. At least we have been forewarned of the problems ahead and have had an opportunity to insulate ourselves to the best of our ability.
December 31, 2023
We are in thrall to business and international treaties, such sycophants.
Consider the majority and stop the immigrants
If to bribe the electorate your government must borrow
That is bad policy and will lead to much sorrow.
Part of the demos will never vote for you
Stop pandering to them, to your own heart be true.
December 31, 2023
I’m not fond of “fizz” , I much prefer a warm red ( not a political one ! ) , apart from that I endorse Sir John’s New Years’ sentiments and hope and pray for better things to come .
December 31, 2023
SirJ I wish you and all your diary contributors well for 2024
December 31, 2023
A happy New Year to you Sir John and renewed thanks for all your efforts.
December 31, 2023
A very Happy New Year to all.
December 31, 2023
The master of failure, i.e. the Tories, will finally be out of office in 2024. I think we can all drink to that!
December 31, 2023
SJR
Happy New Year
December 31, 2023
Happy New Year Sir John and all those who comment here.
I intend, personally, to have a very happy and positive 2024. But it will be despite the lunatic actions of the Westminster Uni-Party; they will do nothing for “ordinary people” like me. I fully intend to continue being one of the “awkward squad” and do more to help disrupt the WEF’s plans for us.
Watched the Sydney NY Fireworks from Blue Point yesterday ….. the most spectacular I’ve ever seen. Well done Sydney.
January 2, 2024
Happy New Year Sir John.
Wishing you good health and every success this year.