Tonight, Big Ben will strike midnight, and a new morn will dawn on 2012. It’s a year that London especially has been counting down to excitedly, due to the upcoming summer Olympics. To millions, the change of year is an opportunity to turn a new leaf and start afresh, yet by February most people will have broken their New Year’s resolution.

This time last year, Osama bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan, the News Of The World was a weekly paper,  and a group of military wives and girlfriends had not yet been united by music.

Yet only the most churlish can suppress a sense of optimism on this, New Year’s Eve. Whilst it’s impossible to predict the news stories of the future, it’s worth looking back on the events of the past year, before merrily singing Auld Lange Syne and indulging, once again, in excessive amounts of food and alcohol before the January diets begin.

May I take this opportunity to offer my sincerest thanks to all readers in 2011, and may I wish you and your family a very happy and enjoyable new year.

Andrew Burdett
31 December 2011

Video

Watch my video review of the year below.