Smash hit

My kingdom for a bolting horse

I wonder if Her Majesty secretly hoped for some drama on her way to that speech

50 practical tips to save you half a lifetime

When I was 16 I didn’t want agony-aunt advice on sex and love, but real advice on spots and shaving – like this . . .

The Iron Lady and her blue felt-tip sympathy

Do Gordon Brown’s staff dare to correct him?

How MPs can redeem themselves

Parliament should save itself – and countless lives – by demanding the return of British troops from Afghanistan

You could see those deaths in Afghanistan coming

I visited Helmand earlier this year. The police trainees were an utter shambles

On the fence. The least painful position

Cameron will be relieved once Lisbon is over. He can then stick to the British tradition of quiet foot-dragging over Europe

It’s too darn hot for the planet’s good

Everyone’s turning on the central heating. Now just turn it back down

Why sacrifice free speech to swat a gnat?

In the face of a rag-tag party with a dishcloth of a manifesto, we flinched — yes, flinched — in our commitment to liberty

A catholic approach to weirdos is fine with me

I’m all in favour of people showing their true colours

Rigid Brown has cast us adrift

Guiding a country all the time is impossible. But if nobody’s steering the ship, you’re sunk

In the cathedral I saw a sign. God help us

The message I received from Saint Therese... and who it was about

Prepare for office. And for booby traps too

The Tory leadership has propelled the party towards government – but it will have a job to keep the backbenchers with it

Eurosceptics are still crazy after all these years

It’s nice to know some things haven’t changed at the Tory conference