Merry Christmas to one and all! (And no, it's not too early to say that)

Some advertising execs didn’t even wait until Bonfire Night was over before launching their newly ‘traditional’ Christmas campaigns – full of the usual heart-warming stories, tinged with a little magic, and flavoured with some mouth-watering festive treats.

Dawn French's M&S fairy is back, and there’s “Cornish Cruncher Cauliflower Cheese”; Amazon's ad tells of a caretaker who finds fame after singing the classic What The World Needs Now Is Love; and Asda has apparently enlisted an army of gnomes to get things ready.

Normally, we would object to such an extension of the festive season and maintain, defiantly, that they really should wait until at least December (in much the same way that some parents insist their children must wait to open their presents until after lunch on Christmas Day). We admit this was probably a lost cause long ago.

However, according to Carnegie UK’s quality of life index, there was no improvement for the average person between 2023 and 2024. After more than a few gloomy years, we don’t need to be told. So some Christmas good cheer, even if a tad premature, is most welcome.