Stephen Tall: Five predictions for 2014

Okay, I’ll stick my neck out…The polling averages for the partieswill be Labour 36 per cent, Conservatives 33 per cent, Ukip 14 per cent, Lib Dems 10 per cent.

Priti Patel MP: Romanians and Bulgarians – it’s Labour’s fault

Cameron is right to seek restrictions on free movement within the EU

Garvan Walshe: Despite a new boycott of Israeli academia and a bomb on a Tel Aviv bus, there are signs of hope in the Middle East.

Mahmoud Abbas understands that a serious outbreak of terrorism would ruin his chances of negotiating a Palestinian State.

Charlotte Leslie: A question for politicians, and each of us. What is it for which you are prepared to die?

The Someone whose birth we celebrate at this time of year became a man who chose to die for Something

Paul Goodman: “The Desolation of Smaug” – Peter Jackson’s dragon sickness

Culture Column Special: Is the Hobbit film series lost in the quest for gold?

Iain Dale: A lousy Christmas to you, Daily Mirror. And a rotten New Year.

Its editor constantly calls David Cameron a public school toff in his rag of a paper. Mr Embley, it turns out, was educated at Malvern.

From @CLeslieMP: A question for politicians and for all of us. What is it for which you are prepared to die?

The Someone who was born at Christmas became a man who chose to die for Something – because he believed in it.

Kate Maltby: Coriolanus – a man who really does hate the “plebs”

Kate Maltby reviews the Donmar Warehouse’s new production of Shakespeare’s play.

Stephan Shakespeare: Can the Conservatives avoid aiming for a second coalition?

If the polls in 2015 suggest a Tory majority is undeliverable, the Party’s conventional election campaigning will be thrown off balance.

Grant Shapps: Five simple messages for the doorstep this Christmas

The Conservatives are on the side of people who work hard and do the right thing. Labour haven’t changed and would put Britain’s recovery at risk.

Henry Hill: Brits, Businessmen, Tories and… spies? Unionists publish donor list

Also: Accidental self-immolation marks upsurge in dissident republican violence; and Welsh referendum on tax powers would be too close to call.

Stephen Tall: Where the parties are as 2013 ends – and what they face in 2014.

Labour: Up, but economically weak. Conservatives: Down, but not out. UKIP: Fantastic year, but still vulnerable. LibDems: Flatlining, but may again hold the balance.

Garvan Walshe: the Western Alliance must stand up to Putin’s Ukrainian power grab

Let’s start by threatening a travel ban on people associated with the regime.

Priti Patel MP: What the Autumn Statement did for business and infrastructure

The Chancellor’s decision will bring lasting economic benefits, new jobs and growth that would not be possible under Labour’s misguided plans.

Iain Dale: It’s my year for snogging Jacqui Smith

Plus: Same-sex marriages on Tebbit’s birthday. Puffed-up Sir Ian Kennedy. Publish, Rob Wilson, publish! And: Why I’m a fat bastard.