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By Nick Assinder - 21st December 2009
The Queen said it about the year which saw a flurry of royal divorces or separations and more excruciatingly-embarrassing revelations about Charles and Diana's private lives that we could handle.
1992, she said, had been her "Annus Horribilis", adding: "It is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure."
For British politicians looking back at 2009, that royally understated remark just about says it all.
So, in the true spirit of Christmas, let's draw a line, put it all behind us and look forward to 2010 when things can only get, well, worse.
For starters, MPs and Peers desperately hoping the expenses scandal can finally be put behind them can think again.
Some 80 appealing MPs (and you don't hear those two words used together very often nowadays)have ensured this issue will continue to run for a good while yet by challenging Sir Thomas Legg's rulings on their claims.
They undoubtedly feel a genuine sense of grievance that they have been treated unjustly, and in some cases may well win their appeals.
But if they hope their efforts will lead to a public re-evaluation of the political class, they are displaying an alarming lack of connection with the real world. Still, it might just mean one or two will hold onto their seats at the next election.
Then there will be the economy. The spirit of Tiny Tim is hanging over the nation's Yuletide celebrations as families worry whether they can afford a turkey or whether it will be a tin of Spam and even more sprouts than usual for Christmas dinner. Good news only for turkeys, then.
Meanwhile, as MPs left the Commons for the break, the Bank of England did its best to boost all this seasonal good will by warning rising interest rates next year could risk tipping Britain into a rare double-dip recession.
Don't worry too much, though. Experts reassure us that double-dip recessions are about as common as snow at Christmas time, with or without global warming.
Finally, there will be the big political event, the one which all MPs should probably dread. The general election.
It looks like it is going to be bad enough for the Labour government which, if the polls are right, is still on course to lose.
Gordon Brown has a new spring in his step after suggestions the Tories have still not quite made that big breakthrough they have been searching for under David Cameron. But it still looks like a massive uphill battle to actually win on 6 May, or whenever.
But it could be far worse for the Tory party. There is the real danger they might actually win.
It would then be up to Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne to do what they have already promised, and what everyone knows will have to happen after the election anyway, whoever wins.
So look forward to the next government quickly making itself deeply unpopular by slashing spending and increasing taxes.
Happy Christmas.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd