In our interconnected world, we must learn to feel enlarged, not threatened, by difference - that is what I have argued.

Parenthood involves massive sacrifice: money, attention, time and emotional energy.

If we are to negotiate the coming years safely, we may need a new kind of leadership. To put it more precisely, we need the rediscovery of an ancient kind of leadership that has rarely been given the prominence it deserves. I mean the leader as teacher.

A perfect storm is in the making: financial uncertainty, economic downturn, government cuts, rising unemployment and a future that looks less clear the more we try to fathom it.

In her religious role, the Queen is head of the Church of England, but in her civic role she cares for all her subjects, and no one is better at making everyone she meets feel valued.

Governments cannot make marriages or turn feckless individuals into responsible citizens. That needs another kind of change agent.

Giving is what makes a nation great.