If the Europeans truly wish to improve their NATO contribution they can show it simply enough. They can establish professional armed forces, like those of the UK. And they can acquire more advanced technology. Indeed, unless that happens soon the gulf between the European and US capabilities will yawn so wide that it will not be possible to share the same battlefield. Alas, I do not think that sharing battlefields with our American friends - but rather disputing global primacy with them - is what European defence plans are truly about.

The government has no money of its own. It's all your money.

If you want to cut your own throat, don't come to me for a bandage.

We are not in politics to ignore peoples' worries, we are in politics to deal with them.

It is important not to allow ever wider coalition-building to become an end in itself. As we saw in the Gulf War of 1990, international pressures, particularly those exerted from within an alliance, can result in the failure to follow actions through and so leave future problems unresolved.

It is absolutely right that President Reagan considers SDI and thank goodness people considered nuclear research before the last war.

It is your tax which pays for public spending. The government have no money of their own. There is only taxpayers' money.