I will take a short time out from being in Parliament when the baby is born but I'll still be doing my constituency work - just with another baby in tow.

People rightly want our political leaders - on all sides - to concentrate on minimising the damage to jobs, living standards and our savings from the banking crisis.

At times unpopular measures are needed in order to change behaviour.

Like many of my friends and colleagues, I can't get enough of Obama news; latest polling, speeches, visits, reaction of world leaders.

There's a loss of faith in the banking system that for so long has been the backbone of prosperity and growth.

Funding for sports (and the arts) are often the first things facing the chop in difficult times.

In politics, the number of women in the cabinet has fallen and, if current poll trends continue and Labour loses a number of marginal seats, the number of female MPs is likely to drop significantly.

Indeed, when all parties campaign effectively the overall effect is to push up voting rates, as you see in tight marginal seats or close general elections. That must be good for democracy.

Today the demands are for even higher standards in the quality of care, for greater flexibility and convenience in treatment times, and for more prevention through screening and health checks.

At its most basic the democratic contract is a simple one: the right to vote comes with a responsibility to society, through tax payments and citizenship.

Sixteen- and 17-year-olds pay taxes and can join the army, so surely they should in turn be given their right to vote.

It's better to burn out than to fade away.

God honors you when you take a stand for what is right.

While there's life there's hope.

Like Hillary Clinton before her, Mrs. Obama has always been a working woman. She is a lawyer turned hospital administrator turned political right hand. It is a unique resume.

The Word says God don't give us credit for lovin the folks we want to love anyway. No, He gives us credit for loving the unlovable.

The constant buzz and pressure and noise and static of the Internet, and the way it makes young people feel makes it difficult to grow up and develop the way one might want to.

The Queen Elizabeth II provides vast amounts of entertainment for an age that has forgotten how to amuse itself unaided.

Most people believe, more or less, that the value of a human life is the same, irrespective of where on the planet it happens to find itself. But, of course, not every life has the same value for us.

The key that opens the door to the faith is prayer.

I don't smoke, I try to eat right, and I love doing yoga and going for hikes with my dog.