Christmas gives us the opportunity to pause and reflect on the important things around us - a time when we can look back on the year that has passed and prepare for the year ahead.

I am not a British isolationist. I don't just want a better deal for Britain. I want a better deal for Europe too.

Taken as a whole, Europe's share of world output is projected to fall by almost a third in the next two decades. This is the competitiveness challenge - and much of our weakness in meeting it is self-inflicted. Complex rules restricting our labour markets are not some naturally occurring phenomenon.

Every time I visit Iraq or Afghanistan I am blown away.

There is not, in my view, a single European demos.

All those countries who keep their aid promises should be proud of what they've done

If we are going to try to get across to the poorest people in the world that we care about their plight and we want them to join one world with the rest of us, we have got to make promises and keep promises.