The well of public opinion has been well and truly poisoned by the Iraq episode.

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.

The prime minister says he has a vision for change, well put that to the people of the country.

We cannot go on as we are with 2.6 million people on incapacity benefit, 500,000 of them are under 35. Are we really saying there are half a million people in this country under 35 who are simply too ill to work? I don’t think that’s right.

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

It's time we admitted that there's more to life than money, and it's time we focused not just on GDP, but on GWB - general well-being.

Competitiveness demands flexibility, choice and openness - or Europe will fetch up in a no-man's land between the rising economies of Asia and market-driven North America.