New years predictions

With the coming new year time for the tradition of getting drunk and making some wild predictions in the hope that they will be forgotten in an alcoholic haze. Unless they come true that is. So I might as well get in first with these:

1. There will be more bansturbation, a lot more, as the One Eyed Kilt Snake tries to win back his ever decreasing poll ratings with by ever more populist authoritarianism.

2. There will be increased sniping from Dr Demento and Charley the Safety Elephant, but neither will be strong enough to do much more than stoke Brown Trousers' paranoia.

3. Part of the reason for this will be because there will be an economic slow down. In itself it might not be that disastrous, but it is going to look a hell of a lot worse than it is because of the whining coming from the public sector. Gordon isn't going to be able to extort yet greater sums from the exhausted wealth creators so There will be no money for yet more pay increases in the public sector this year and that is going to hurt. Having become used to large pay increases on their already large salaries the public sector is going to be whining even more than they are now. Not that they are going to get any sympathy at all. I'd expect the only bright side economically will be that the UK will continue to do better than those suckered into the Euro.

4. There will be more extensions to the amount of time that people can be held without charge. This will probably be compromised to around 40 days in the bill that is currently going though parliament, but the next one (and there will be another) will use this as the starting point.

5. There will be no referendum on the EU Constitution, despite it being promised, nor will there be a general election. Bottler Brown is going to cling on till the very last moment before calling one.

6. Polly Toynbee will continue to claim that because they wear red rosettes this government is not one of the most repressive of all time. She will continue to be wrong on this and many other subjects.