One from each member state

Dr. Richard North expressing a sentiment with which yours truly wholly agrees.

The biggest dollop of BS, though, comes from Italy's Giorgio Napolitano, who tells his audience that, "Sacrifices are necessary to ensure the future of young people, it's our objective and a commitment we cannot avoid".

I do love these fully paid-up members of the political classes, collectively responsible for creating the mess of a lifetime then telling us that, in order to clean it up, "sacrifices are necessary" – while they are themselves living in the lap of luxury.

It seems to me that sacrifices are indeed necessary, but of a kind more familiar to the Aztecs. But forget the virgins … senior politicians sound a much better idea. There should be no limit to the number of sacrifices made here. One from each of the member states would do for a start.

And with that, methinks, the tone for the new year is firmly set.