Let me start by wishing all Hereford Times readers, and their friends and family, a very happy New Year!

Happy 150th birthday to the Ross Gazette!

It is amazing to think that in 1867, just as Benjamin Disraeli was framing the second Reform Act and giving the vote to millions of people for the first time, so the roots of the Gazette was being established in Ross-on-Wye.

A very Merry Christmas to all Gazette readers!

Opinions will vary as to whether 2016 has been a year to cherish or to forget. Both nationally and internationally, we have had 12 months of dramatic, indeed wrenching, change.

Every year winter brings high rainfall and increased risk of flooding.

Flooding across the UK last winter was the most extreme on record, with ‘Storm Desmond’ alone leaving over 5,000 homes in Cumbria and Lancashire flooded.

Readers will know that the High Court has recently ruled that the Government cannot trigger Article 50, the formal two-year mechanism for leaving the EU, without a vote in Parliament. The case will come before the Supreme Court next month.

It is always my pleasure to show off our beautiful county to visitors.

In my six years as MP the well-being of our hospitals, and in particular the County Hospital in Hereford, has always been a paramount concern.

Last week I discovered that plans were well advanced for a formal link between the South Warwickshire Foundation Trust and the Wye Valley Trust, which runs both Hereford and Ross hospitals.

Hereford MP Jesse Norman has called for an immediate halt and a full and open public discussion after learning of potential plans by the NHS to place the County Hospital and its parent the Wye Valley Trust under the control of the South Warwickshire Foundation Trust.