Aspiration, it seems, is in danger of becoming the preserve of the wealthy.

My personal view is always I'm in favour of anything that gives parliament a greater say. That's after all what we were elected for.

Government cannot do it all. As we work hard to break welfare dependency and get young people ready for the labour market, we need businesses to give them a chance and not just fall back on labour from abroad.

The number one priority now is reducing the deficit that they [Labour] left us - the biggest deficit since the Second World War.

Too many couples break up without understanding the consequences for their families.

Gang members have invariably grown up in broken, chaotic homes, often experiencing domestic violence; they have truanted from school and many have been formally excluded; and they live in neighbourhoods where worklessness, addiction and crime are rife.

For families across the UK who are income-poor, but more than that, whose lives are blighted by worklessness, educational failure, family breakdown, problem debt and poor health, as well as other problems, giving them an extra pound - say through increased benefits - will not address the reason they find themselves in difficulty in the first place.