Dear Santa,

To start with I would like a new pair of cufflinks (nothing too flashy), a kindle, a good thriller read and the time to read it.

Then there a few other items which I don’t usually place on my Christmas list.

For a start do you think you could work on some magic dust. I know you know how to make it. It’s magic dust that makes your reindeer fly.

So could you just make some dust to scatter while flying around  through the night sky which would restore a veneer of civilisation to the world. Something that would remove the perpetual scowls and angry body language of presidents—and lots of lots of other people. Something that makes them at least look as if they are searching for a solution rather than a fight.

By the way, do you ever take back presents? You know, if the boy or girl has misused them or doesn’t play properly? If so, would you please collect all the megaphones that you handed out to politicians a couple of Christmases ago. Oh, and while you are it, could you remove the cotton from their ears.

At the moment opposing politicians spend  too much time shouting at each other through giant bullhorns while the cotton wool—plus their uncivilised behaviour—prevents  them from listening and discussing.  

Do you by any chance own a giant pin?  If so, I would be really grateful if you add that to the list. I would love to travel around the world bursting the filtered information bubbles into which so many have retreated. Perhaps I can hang onto the runners of your sleigh and gleefully pop, pop, pop away as you fly through the night on Christmas Eve.

The Internet is a wonderful thing. It has grown to such an extent that I am able to my job better and better. And I love my job. But too many use it to reinforce their hates and prejudices rather than looking for information that leads to consensual solutions.  You are in the spreading goodwill and cheer business, maybe you can do something about it.

There are more related items on my list.  I want the millions, perhaps billions of people who have been blinded by populism, post-truth and alternative facts to have their sight and reason restored.

I want people to see a world based on careful study of ALL the elements that make it up and make decisions based on that study. I do not want to see a world where decisions are based on what people want to believe and choose the facts that support those beliefs and dismiss the ones that don’t and then throw in a dose of hate.

Do you think that you could do something so that the conduct of world affairs was based more on mutual back-scratching than back-stabbing?

Finally, do you think you can do something to persuade people to accept that we all share the same planet and all have a mutual interest in its survival and prosperity.  I know you are not a North Pole First kind a guy. When you are flying high in the night sky national borders are invisible and walls shrink almost into insignificance.

Unfortunately only astronauts have been able to share your unique perspective, and they remain in an extreme minority.

Well Santa, that is my list, I know you have competing requests. Donald Trump wants building blocks for his wall. Vladimir Putin wants a new super computer for his cyber warfare campaign, Theresa May wants Brexit to go away and leave her alone. President Xi jin ping wants everyone to shut up and do what he thinks is best. A tired and frustrated Angela Merkel is probably asking if you can organise her retirement party.

So, I will tell you what, you don’t have to actually deliver my list. Just think about it. That would at least be an improvement.

Best Wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, Mrs Claus. The elves and all of the reindeer,

Tom Arms

PS I have been a good boy, so please don’t forget  the cufflinks.

* Tom Arms is foreign editor of Liberal Democrat Voice. He also contributes to “The New World” magazine and lectures on world affairs. He is the author of “America Made in Britain,” two editions of “The Encyclopaedia of the Cold War” and “The Falklands Crisis.”