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.

Paddy Ashdown is the only party leader who's a trained killer. Although, to be fair, Mrs Thatcher was self taught.

I am genuinely not an over-the-top kind of person about politics or anything else.

There is no satisfaction to be derived from having had many of our arguments borne out by events.

I don't want a headline saying 'Kennedy suggests this or implies that.'

The one thing we can all be sure about in politics is you are as well to expect the unexpected.

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.