I see the Koran very much as an outsider. It stands in the great prophetic tradition of trying to return people to the basic principles of spirituality. Taken for its time, it was an extraordinarily progressive declaration of principle. It is also extraordinary for a Christian to read: for example, there are more references to Mary than in the Gospels. The tragedy is that it has been so warped and misapplied.

I am a pretty straight sort of guy.

It's not a burning ambition for me to make sure that David Beckham earns less money.

There are two outstanding issues in democratic politics these days. One is the relationship with the media, which is now 24/7, and operates with a completely different intensity than even 15 or 20 years ago. How do we have a proper conversation between leaders and country when it's moderated sometimes in a very partisan and inflammatory way? And the second thing is the effectiveness of our democracy. How do we get the right gene and talent pool in politics?

Choice dependent on wealth; those are the Tory words.

Global warming is too serious for the world any longer to ignore its danger or split into opposing factions on it.

Before people crow about the absence of weapons of mass destruction, I suggest they wait a bit.