Great Newyear... or was it a dream?

Welcome to my impossible dream for a great 2013! The mists are clearing, it’s just after midnight and my mindhastransportedmetothe TownHallparty, whichlooks to be in full swing.

“Happy New Year”, shouts a councillor in my ear, before planting a bristly, Jagerbombflavoured kiss onmycheekand then exploding into the ether with a high- pitched whine.

I didn’t havetheheart, orthe inclination, to explain to her why that is unlikely to be the case for many this year.

As I float through the air on a pink marshmallow pillow, I spy councillor Seaton in his Christmas jumper, throwing some incredibly odd shapes on the dance floor, whilst a queue of councillors wait patiently to get their bumps felt by Mystic Marco in his tantric tent.

Surely though, nobody needs a crystal ball to see the economy flatlining, debt rising and cuts to jobs, services and benefits, savaging people’s lives all across this city?

Iamnowinminiature, amini me, braving a jelly tot storm, before squeezing through the tiniest of doors and entering a room full of part- baked pizzas, all with the word“idea” written onthem– I aminWayne’sWorld – excellent ( not).

Ablinding flashof light suddenly envelops the room and transports me skywards, towardsonegiant, all- seeing, eye.

“Hello, my name is Gillian”, booms the optician’s nightmare.

“I canshowyouapositivevision of the future.”

With that, images begin projecting rapidly from her dilated pupils onto the ceiling of the Town Hall, revealing some of the things that could happen in 2013...

I see some of the biggest names in the city handing over wads of cash to help those suffering from cuts to their benefits – that’s amazing.

Look, there is Terry Rich being mobbed by grateful relatives, whilst cuttingaribbonon abrandnewcouncilcarehome. It can’t be! That looks like a subway being built underneath the railway at Kings Dyke... and is that farmers still tending the land around Newborough?

Three supermarkets for Whittlesey and the building work in Peterborough city centre finished? No way. Oh and that is crazy – Darren Ferguson hugging Darragh MacAnthony in front of the new Moyes end, as Posh secure Championship safety by winning their final 22 games of the season.

All we need now is for Greece to strike oil and pay back the rest of the world what they owe us!

But as the crowd’s cheers gently subside, I wake from my slumber and very quickly the harsh realities of life in 2013 come flooding back.

Almost every day on the radio I talk to those struggling to make ends meet and I know, for many, that this year is going to be incredibly difficult.

I don’twanttoappearflippant and make light of what peoplearegoingthrough, but this is afterall a newyearand therefore we should all hope and dream of a better one to come.

After all, our dreams cost nothing, they cannot be taxed and they cannot be hijacked and sometimes they do come true.