There stands no contradiction between giving voice to legitimate anxiety and at the same time, as and when exchange of fire commences, looking to the rest of the country, as well as all of us in the House, to give full moral support to our forces.

Courage is a peculiar kind of fear.

The quicker we get rid of the lobby system the better for all of us. I don't think in this day and age it is tenable to have these nods and winks, and on-the-record and off-the-record briefings.

My favourite novel is Frederick Forsythe's Day Of The Jackal, the story about the unproven case of this apparent Englishman who was hired to assassinate De Gaulle….

There are hard choices to be made in balancing the country's security and an individual's liberties. But it is a choice that has to be faced.

It is true that I entered parliament at the age of 23, and have now been representing the people of my constituency for over twenty years.

We should have high expectations of our children, but politicians should not tell teachers how to meet them.