8pm ToryDiary: In summary, here are the ten Picks Of 2012 as chosen by readers…
2pm International: America's (or France's or Britain's) public finances won't be solved by increasing taxes on the rich. Everyone will have to make sacrifices.
12.30pm ToryDiary: The Scrap of 2012, notes Pete Hoskin, was between the parliamentary Conservative Party and the Conservative leadership… "The entire year has been punctuated with fights, both large and small, between segments of the parliamentary party and their leadership…"
ToryDiary: Michael Gove is Conservative Minister of 2012
Lord Lexden on Comment: Forty years ago today Britain entered the EEC on Edward Heath's false prospectus
The Deep End: America's fiscal cliff – you ain't seen nothing yet
By 89 votes to 8 Senate passes a compromise deal that gives America two more months to resolve fiscal cliff – BBC
The UK assumes its year-long presidency of the G8 group of nations – BBC
Don’t listen to these false prophets over the 2015 general election…
…Writing in The Telegraph Tory Chairman Grant Shapps insists the party can win the next election.
Mr Shapps was responding to Paul Goodman's claim that a Tory majority was almost impossible.
> On ConHome yesterday Tim Montgomerie argued that there was nothing inevitable about a Miliband victory.
Tories lost a fifth of their voters in 2012 – The Independent
UKIP will edge towards 20% in the opinion polls during 2013 and do what the SDP did to Labour and make the Conservatives unelectable – One of Simon Jenkins' predictions for 2013 as part of a Guardian panel.
> Yesterday's ToryDiary: The rise of UKIP was the event of 2012
A look back at highlights from Britain's forty year relationship with the EU – Telegraph
Christopher Booker tells Daily Mail readers that our politicians have lied and lied about the true purpose of the European behemoth.
In The Independent Dominic Lawson joins the Outers: "I know that many think there is actually something uncivilised in not being a member of the EU. But I have never felt, when in Switzerland, that I am far from civilisation; nor that Switzerland’s international image is somehow diminished by its lack of membership of this particular political club. Forty years on, it is high time to reassess the terms of our own partnership: as with some marriages, amicable separation might be preferable to fractious co-habitation."
"David Cameron must very soon decide if he is prepared to lead an unstoppable movement to restore British sovereignty. If he decides not to do so then a people’s army will march right over the top of him." – Express leader
Britain must stay in EU, warns CBI chief – FT (£)
UK 'faces a 50-50 risk of suffering triple-dip recession' say economists as they warn of eurozone risk – Daily Mail
It is unwise to stake a political reputation on an IT system, and one anonymous cabinet minister is already calling universal credit 'a disaster waiting to happen' – Guardian leader
John Harris says that the poor simply cannot afford the Coalition's welfare squeeze – Guardian
> Yesterday's ToryDiary: The benefits cap was the policy of 2012
Michael Gove facing rebellion from teachers and architects over plans to simplify new school buildings after study claimed well-designed classrooms could improve pupils' progress by up to 25% – Guardian
Pope warns David Cameron on gay marriage 'damage to family' in New Year message – Daily Mail
Government figures showed that collecting refuse fortnightly – a policy considered by the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, to be rubbish – increases recycling – Independent
The Conservatives are planning to target English voters as the battle over Scottish independence enters its penultimate year – The Herald
Maria Miller, Andrea Leadsom, Jo Swinson, Rachel Reeves and Stella Creasy are five women to watch in 2013 – Cathy Newman in The Telegraph
A warning to George Osborne to stop boosting Alistair Darling
"David Cameron and George Osborne amuse themselves by treating Labour’s former chancellor Alistair Darling with exaggerated respect in the Commons – knowing it annoys shadow Chancellor Ed Balls. Senior Tories consider the ploy dangerous. They suspect Labour leader Ed Miliband is plotting to oust Balls and replace him with the more credible Darling. So the PM and Chancellor are playing with fire." – The Daily Mail's Ephraim Hardcastle
Britain is facing an “obesity epidemic” costing £5billion a year – Express
"More weight-loss surgery, obesity specialists in every hospital and a Minister for Fatness are needed to give the increasing number of overweight patients the treatment they need, according to leading doctors." – Times (£)
"Britain has been building a new form of inequality, close to the searing gap of the Victorian era"
Along with the United States and a number of other countries, Britain has in the process, turned itself into a near-plutonomy, a society where spending power and economic decision making has become increasingly dependent on the unpredictable and capricious actions of the few." – Stuart Lansley for The Independent
Rejoice in the great revival that has taken place since BR's privatisation but something needs to be done about fares – Andrew Gimson in The Guardian
The 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, in 2015, is fast approaching, and we should do it justice
– Philip Johnston in The Telegraph
And finally… The Sun insists Britain should start 2013 with confidence
"The UK is still the world’s seventh largest economy. We are not a Division Two nation: we are a nuclear power with one of five permanent seats on the UN Security Council. We have the greatest football league in the world. The Rolling Stones and One Direction prove we still lead the way in pop culture. If 2012 taught us anything it’s that we are at our best when we believe in ourselves. Here’s wishing you a happy and prosperous New Year." – The Sun Says
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