Emily Carver: Kate Bingham is right – the machinery of government is in trouble. It’s time Johnson proved he has a vision.

Unfortunately, ever-increasing public spending and green policies inspire little confidence in the Prime Minister.

Profile: COP26’s Alok Sharma, who put himself on the map by inadvertently shedding tears in Glasgow

The President of COP26 is suddenly so well-known that he attracts criticism as well as admiration, and interest in his roots as an admirer of Thatcher.

Daniel Hamilton: The international community must take immediate steps to stop the bloodshed in Ethiopia

Now’s the time to force the country’s warring factions to the negotiating table.

Ryan Henson: The challenges facing the UK and our new Foreign Secretary

Truss must ensure Britain remains a global leader in development, as well as in defence and diplomacy.

David Richards: Offer a single point of contact and overhaul the National Security Council. How to help the Afghans we left behind.

It would seem to compound an injustice to invite these Afghans to join the back of the queue for resettlement assistance.

Profile: The Foreign Office, damaged by the retreat from Kabul, but free at last of Blairite illusions

Sir Anthony Eden offers the great modern warning: an expert who lacked the mental robustness to cope at the highest level.

Raab v Wallace. Downing Street should force a ceasefire.

If you want a circus, send for Pen Farthing. There’s a government to run. Number Ten must get a grip.

Andrew Gimson’s Commons sketch: The Foreign Secretary fails to win friends and influence people

Nor could the Foreign Secretary pretend that his department was paying much attention to Afghanistan before the fall of Kabul.

Raab’s place in the sun

Never mind the holiday, feel the challenge – that’s to say, moving on from responding to Brexit to what Afghanistan may mean for foreign policy.

Alan Duncan: The recently-rehashed Foreign Office is facing an identity crisis

Its development reputation has been tarnished, and nobody is able to define quite what the UK’s foreign policy actually is.

Garvan Walshe: Just as in Hong Kong and Belarus, the UK has a duty to stand up for freedom in Tunisia

The most important task is the resolution of the constitutional crisis and a return to the normal democratic process.

Johnson puts the case for more localism in England. Now he must deliver it.

The more radical his plans are, the more resistance there will be. But one can’t serve up a municipal omelette without breaking eggs.

Never mind CCTV. A sign should greet Javid in his new office. Saying “Welcome to Hell”.

His in-tray features: Covid, mental health, NHS reform…and social care. He’s set to be the most pressured Health Secretary since Lansley.

Interview with Dominic Raab: The EU’s approach to the Northern Ireland Protocol is “pretty analogue in a digital age”

The Foreign Secretary contends that by forming an aspirational coalition the Conservatives can gain votes in the North without losing support in the South.

Noises off: The Duncan Diaries are more amusing, and more valuable, than one might have expected.

His remarks about Johnson demonstrate the latter’s remarkable capacity to win round, even impress, critics who have lost all patience with him.