Happy New Year!

As regular readers of this blog will have noticed, the last few weeks have been marked by a singular absence of entries. Not because of Christmas festivities but because I have been working up to the final deadline for the Classic Sex Book, which I have now - whoopee!!! - handed to the publisher.

Can't be too free with the details yet, as it's still slightly under wraps, but it's due out in September... watch this space.

As for 2008, I thought that for the first column this year, I'd turn my attention to New Year's Resolutions. No, not mine - though I do have a list of about ten which I'm beginning to action - but resolutions for others, resolutions which, if adopted, would make the world a much happier place.

So here goes. For 2008, I wish that..

1: ... "your condom or mine" was as normal a chat up line as "do you come here often?"

2: ... twenty somethings realised that the first few months of a relationship are hormonally fuelled, and therefore not necessarily a sufficient foundation on which to get pregnant.

3: ... fifty-somethings became aware that in terms of sexually transmitted infections, their longer history makes them even more at risk than twenty-somethings

4: ... every engaged couple believed that having pre-marriage preparation isn't unromantic nor a lack of faith but instead a great start to a successful married life. (If you're interested, log on to Relate's website on www.relate.org.uk and search for 'Couples Course')

5: ... every man knew what to do with the clitoris and every woman knew what to do with the frenulum.

6 ... every couple struggling to stay together could realise that counselling really does help and that it's not a sign of weakness to get outside support. (www.relate.org.uk)

7: ... everyone recovering from a relationship loss could accept that it takes time to recover - and that rebound relationships may dull the pain short term but long-term are likely to be either a bad choice or doomed to end.

8: ...every parent started taking responsibility for resourcing their children around making confident sexual decisions - information, emotional support and positive role models.

9: ... Ed Balls (British Secretary of State for Education) can carry through on his just-announced promise to drag Britain's sex education teaching into the 21st century (no, that wasn't how he expressed it but you know what I mean.)

10: everyone would back a new campaign just launched that hopes to bring an end to cervical cancer. If you want to add your signature, log on to http://www.cervicalcancerpetition.eu/)

Happy New Year!