To begin with, I’d like to wish you all a very happy new year.
This one is likely to be challenging, for obvious reasons.
The euro crisis remains with us, with few, if any, solutions.
One we must avoid is closer fiscal and political union, which the French and Germans are pushing.
That brings with it the spectre of EU bureaucrats policing our national budgets.
That would be an anathema to a country such as ours, whose future, I believe, depends on our ability to govern ourselves.
We are not out of the wood yet and a collapse of the euro could have serious consequences, with many of our banks owed huge amounts by the European countries most at risk.
At home, we face high unemployment, especially among the young.
Apprenticeships are taking up some of the slack, but I believe we should go much further.
I do detect that a new realism is beginning to work its way through.
I heard the Prime Minister only the other day praising companies which were keeping their workforce but reducing hours.
However, if everyone is to manage on less, the Government must play its part and reduce both personal and business taxes.
Only in this way can the economy cool and a faltering recovery begin.
Finally, a thought for Michael Turner, from Corfe Castle, for whom 2012 has started off badly.
He has been told that the Hungarian authorities have decided to resurrect his extradition, despite having imprisoned him for several months in 2009 without charge.
His many supporters, including me, will be championing his cause.
I do hope that, rather than signalling the beginning of another drawn-out nightmare, the Hungarian legal action heralds the beginning of the end of his ordeal.
A happy 2012 to you all.