In my view what you can't argue for is a system that is neither decisive nor proportional and can be indecisive and disproportionate at the same time.

The total economy of Latin America is bigger than China.

Spending only what the country can afford, rewarding savings, encouraging independence, supporting marriage: people know that these things are common sense.

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

I have found that I get a better reaction from people once I am less bothered about their reaction.

We hope that the long darkness through which the Burmese people have lived may now be coming to an end.

The appalling crackdown that we witnessed in Hama and other Syrian cities on 30 and 31 July only erode the regime's legitimacy and increase resentment. In the absence of an end to the senseless violence and a genuine process of political reform, we will continue to pursue further EU sanctions.