Political parties don't work when people just announce what they are doing and expect everyone else to follow.

We are naturally reluctant as a peace-loving people to reach out to far-away conflicts but, as we know, this conflict has been reaching out to us for months now.

Even potential human life needs to be treated with great respect.

For small business men and women, less paperwork means higher profits, boosted sales and more time with the family.

Both Mum and Dad were converts to Catholicism, and normally if you convert to Catholicism you have thought about it more than someone who just grew up with it, taking it for granted.

Here we go again, a government which is making yet more excuses for yet more failure when it comes to getting our budgetary situation right.

The media - and I'm not blaming them - obviously like to seize on the differences between people and, sure, there are some senior members of the government who are in a slightly different philosophical space to mine. But do not underestimate the substantial single-mindedness of this government.