Leaving aside the timing of the Autumn Statement, December 3, is rather late to be considered autumn, there is much that I could wish for...

Of course, as with most government announcements these days, much of what is likely to appear has already been trailed over the preceding weekend.

The increase in funding for the National Health Service and the major investment in infrastructure spending, this time on the roads, all have already been announced.

This begs the question, 'what is left to say?'.

Well, I hope, a great deal.

We all know that the Budget deficit is proving difficult to reduce, at least at the rate that was hoped.

At the same time we know that there are more people in work in the UK than at any time in our history.

The problem seems to be that a lot of these jobs are low paid or part time. This has a knock-on affect in reducing the expected tax revenue from this huge work force.

People are spending again. That is a good thing in many ways - VAT revenue will rise and, anyway, it is good for business, whether on the high street or the internet.

Personal debt will, however, be rising and we have heard that credit card companies are increasing the amount they charge on unpaid balances, despite the continuing lowest ever interest rates generally.

So what do I hope the Chancellor will say?

I hope he will appeal to all British citizens to raise their expectations of what they expect from the government and from themselves.

What is needed is vision.

We need to have our hopes raised that at long last we are out of the worst of the recession, that pre-dated the present government.

We need to be assured that the government will continue the relatively low-tax agenda. People will not do their best unless they feel that the people in charge understand their problems and are doing their level best to solve them.

What is needed in the Autumn Statement, in a word, is hope.

Not blind faith but a reasonable prospect of better times ahead.

Everyone should have a chance to better themselves and their families over the next three or four years, and the Chancellor is the one who needs to provide it.

George Osborne is a considerable politician, whatever one’s personal likes or dislikes may be, and this is his opportunity to rise to the challenge of finally putting the recession to bed, and setting us forward on the road to prosperity for all.