Governments that use violence to stop democratic development will not earn themselves respite forever. They will pay an increasingly high price for actions which they can no longer hide from the world with ease, and will find themselves on the wrong side of history.

Unless there is meaningful change in Syria and an end to the crackdown, President Assad and those around him will find themselves isolated internationally and discredited within Syria.

You do have to do business with and to try to influence people you don't agree with, or find disagreeable, so it's important to stress that balance.

It's not too late to stop the Lisbon Treaty.

I described the euro as a burning building with no exits and so it has proved for some of the countries in it.

A generation of children has been betrayed.

Wouldn't it be better to have a watertight law designed to catch the guilty, rather than a press release law designed to catch the headlines?