Iain Dale: Your Brexit trade talks countdown. Fourteen days left until transition ends fully.
Plus: The ascent of Truss. Christmas Covid rules unravel. And: I wish readers the compliments of the season and a Happy New Year.
Henry Hill: The beacons are lit! Aberdeen calls for aid, and London must answer
An embattled Scottish local authority is trying to bypass Holyrood’s stranglehold and appeal to the city’s other government. Time for the Union to prove itself.
Garvan Walshe: This week’s Israel-Morocco deal. A consolation gift for Trump…and a strategic win for China.
The agreement involves revising an international border – opposed in this case by the EU and the UK. It will have knock-on effects elsewhere.
Robert Halfon: Our national catchphrase this year is four simple words – “You are on mute”
Some of us have taken up central casting from The Truman Show – being ogled, googled, zoomed, teamed and even on the odd occasion ‘citrixed’.
Andy Street: Our pioneering bus partnership will get the West Midlands economy moving
For too long, the workhorse of public transport has been a poor relation compared to trams and rail.
Neil O’Brien: How can we make the economy grow faster?
The big questions are about an EU deal and Covid recovery. But one of the other places to look is how we turn our savings into investments.
Iain Dale: Brexit. In the short-term, a bumpy ride. In the medium, a massive success – that’s my instinct, anyway
Plus: three winners from recent events. First, Liz Truss. Second, NHS England. And third, the under-promoted Nadhim Zahawi.
Henry Hill: As rumours swirl about the UKIM Bill, unease in Government about an ‘appease the SNP’ mentality
Also: fresh woe for Nicola Sturgeon has her husband, the SNP’s chief executive, appears to contradict her evidence to MSPs on the Salmond scandal.
Stephen Booth: The Northern Ireland Protocol deal – an improvement on what the EU envisaged a year ago
What implications are there for the wider trade relationship? On the one hand, it builds goodwill. Equally, it reduces the political cost of No Deal.
Daniel Hannan: How the EU must wish it had accepted May’s Chequers offer
The truth is that Eurocrats see Britain as a rule-taking dependent, like Macedonia or Ukraine, rather than as a wholly independent nation.
Ryan Bourne: First, Covid-19 lockdowns. Next, climate change ones – rationed car use, no red meat. Coming soon to a country near you?
It might seem far-fetched that one could face jail for eating steak frites. But one could have said the same about not eating at least a scotch egg with your pint.
James Frayne: Six ways of boosting local pride and identity
The Government can do a lot in a short space of time. A key question should be: how do we make these towns nicer places to live?
Radical: Keira Bell’s case is a national scandal. It should have never taken a court hearing to halt the harm of children.
Many concerns have been raised about the practices of the Gender Identity Development Service. But too often these have been shouted down.
Richard Holden: This first Johnson year demanded tough short-term decisions. The coming second will demand tough long-term ones.
The towns of the North East, left behind for generations by Labour, will need to see their Conservative MPs forging a durable path to a future.
David Gauke: How the Conservatives are morphing from a party of power to a party of protest
We have seen it in the context of Europe; we are seeing it in the context of Covid restrictions. We may more of it in tackling the public finances.