The Tories seem unable to make any impact north of the border.

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.

We tend to listen to the people who believe in their own words as opposed to those who don’t. When we feel their conviction, they earn our buy-in.

I must fight with my weapons. Not his. Not selfishness and brutality and shame and resentment.

But mostly because he could be himself - never needing to bend.

As long as I play ball, I can get any woman I want.

I'm a very ritualistic, routine-oriented person, and I discovered over the years that I love working Monday through Friday.

I like that free spirit where you can laugh together and argue. I love a writer's room.

..the self-knowledge that I am talking about is concrete, verifiable and is tangible like science itself and completely understandable in rational terms.

I never said I was a genius.

I can't bring myself to believe in a God with a personality like my own. I base that on the paucity of lightning attacks on people who deserve it.

The constitution is a sacred document in a democracy.