Margaret Thatcher, growing up in a bombed and battered Britain, derived a distrust which has grown with the years not just of Germany but of all continental Europe.

Margaret Thatcher was fearful of German unification because she believed that this would bring an immediate and formidable increase of economic strength to a Germany which was already the strongest economic partner in Europe.

We should be wary of politicians who profess to follow history while only noticing those signposts of history that point in the direction which they themselves already favour.

But Germany will always suffer, I fear, from the intensely dramatic character of the crimes of the Third Reich.

Some people find it difficult to argue with a woman Prime Minister and shrivel up.

People know they are lacking something, they are constantly wanting some kind of spiritual guidance.

No military timetable should compel war when a successful outcome, namely a disarmed Iraq may be feasible without war, for example by allowing more time to the UN inspectors.