I have left my letter to the photographers’ and picture editors’ Santa Claus rather late this year and am having real problems thinking of enough things to make it worth his while climbing down my chimney, here’s what I’ve got so far…

Dear Santa,

I hope this finds you free of the seasonal ailments afflicting the rest of us and that this note has not arrived too late for your consideration. I can only imagine how busy you must be at this time of year but then you have a lot of little helpers what with the Elves and all. It must be tough come annual performance appraisal time or do you just use casual, seasonal  labour?

This year I have been a good boy most of the time, which may if I’m entirely honest, have more to do with lack of opportunity than virtuousness but I would like to request the following modest items for my stocking please:

- The ability to fly and hover at will.

- A tap on my desk that delivers hot, strong tea.

- A laptop that works perfectly well when wet.

- Photographers that work prefectly well when wet.

- Digital cameras that do exactly what they are supposed to do when you get them - and when wet.

- Light, long-life, universal equipment batteries.

- A 3G network in the UK with as much bandwidth as those in the USA and Germany.

- An end to “pools”.

- Daylight at ground level in Downing Street at least once a year…

At which point I run out of inspiration, so I’d be very grateful for any other useful suggestions while there is still time please.