December started with a classic story. Kay Burley and Sky News colleagues had broken multiple Tier 2 rules for her sixtieth birthday party. Her ‘bog standard’ apology that evening left Guido with more questions than answers. It led to three Sky presenters being taken off air. Later it was revealed that Kay Burley and Beth Rigby had been handed a six month and three month suspension apiece…

December was also the month when the EU started to become jealous of the UK. Perhaps the first of many. German press slammed the bloc‘s sluggish common vaccination programme, as the first German was vaccinated… in the UK. The UK’s rollout of an approved vaccine was the first in the world, and produced an emotional reaction from the Health Secretary.

Elsewhere, increasingly the darling of the Tory grassroots, Liz Truss gave a barnstorming equalities speech. Swathes of ‘politically contentious’ material was removed from it when uploaded to the Government website, so Guido helpfully published them as a ‘best bits’ of the speech.

In the Commons, Chris Bryant eventually apologised for his sweary standoff with the Speaker, and as ever an SNP MP pulled an attention grabbing stunt. As for the Lords, some Brexit heroes were announced to be soon joining its ranks, including Dan Hannan and Syed Kamall. On the benches opposite, in accepting a peerage, Starmer aide and former Darlington MP Jenny Chapman U-turned on her aim of winning back her red wall seat…

After Christmas was cancelled for most southerners, the Government revealed a present after all. The Brexit trade deal was done at the last minute. Guido revealed the first official summary of the deal, days before the full text was finally published. Nigel Farage backed it, and the ERG’s star chamber approved it as sovereignty compliant. The year concluded yesterday with the historic passage of the new UK-EU FTA. Readers particularly enjoyed the highlights of Michael Gove’s barnstorming debate summation.

Guido will be popping the champagne English Sparkling Wine corks an hour earlier than usual this evening. While 2020 ends at midnight, 28 years of EU control ends at 23:00…