25/12/2019
For the sixteenth consecutive year, it is again my privilege to wish my readers a merry Christmas. It has not been the best of years, not least with the loss of our very good friend Christopher Booker, but there have been moments to treasure.
That the future is more uncertain than we would like should not interfere with our enjoyment of the one day in the year devoted to peace and goodwill to all humanity. This day will soon be over and hostilities can resume quickly enough.
For all that, this is probably the last Christmas for EUReferendum. We â that is Helen Szamuely (sadly also deceased) and I - started it up with a view to preparing for a the referendum on the EU constitution.
This had been
promised by Tony Blair and, although it turned out to be another empty promise by another empty politician, we persevered through the empty years of Brown and then Cameron, only to end up with the Lisbon Treaty â yet another leap in European political integration, advanced without the consent of the British peoples.
Now we have been through the long-overdue 2016 referendum, and our withdrawal from the European Union seems imminent, it is perhaps time to move on to fresher fields â another blog devoted to general politics, as soon as Pete has done the honours.
That, though, is for the near future. For the moment, Mrs EUReferendum and I are preparing to enjoy a quiet Christmas together, that rare moment of relaxation and reflection on the one day of the year that I will not spend glued to a computer screen.
Instead, for a time, I will be using another type of glue â the same that went into building the model of the Hawker Typhoon Mk 1A (pictured), a Christmas present from Boiling Frog many moons ago, and only just completed in time for this Christmas. One down, and many more to go. Today, at least, I'll make a dent in the stash.
That leaves me to thank family, our readers, sponsors and donors for their support during the last year, and especially those unsung heroes who have committed to monthly payments. We are particularly grateful for the financial support, which really does make the difference.
With that, I'll sign off to leave you all to enjoy your own Christmases, with the certainty that we'll be back at the coal face soon enough, to continue the unequal struggle.
