Ben Roback: The arms race taking place to establish a new ‘Special Relationship’

With May distracted by Brexit, Macron is risking domestic political pushback to become Trump’s ‘bridge to Europe’.

Robert Halfon: Degree apprenticeships – the key to fighting social injustice in higher education, and boosting productivity.

The new Office for Students must lead in this. There must be sanctions from the new regulator for those universities who are failing in this regard.

Henry Newman: Could Macron be the leader to deliver the Brexit deal that Davis is battling for?

Despite talk of the negotiations getting bogged down, the French president seems to understand that the process is about politics more than legal complexity.

Syria. MPs to argue about the stable door after the horse has bolted – or, rather, is back inside.

The Prime Minister faces a difficult afternoon – but will be aided by the unwillingess of Tory backbenchers to line up with Jeremy Corbyn.

WATCH: Thornberry – “It cannot be Donald Trump and a couple of allies deciding unilaterally” on Syria

“We have been here before, when we have not had clear evidence about weapons of mass destruction.”

Syria. May’s calculation and the dangers of a May miscalculation – to others and to her

She will be feeling a hand of history on her shoulder, and wondering if the other holds a knife at her back.

Let’s suppose missile strikes target the Assad regime. But afterwards chemical weapons are used again in Syria. What then?

Reports this morning suggest conflict within the Government and hesitation in America. And no wonder.

Syed Kamall: Europe’s response to Russia highlight’s Britain’s continued influence

As well as sending a very strong signal to Moscow, the Government is making good progress towards a Brexit deal too.

Henry Newman: The unified reaction to the Skripal affair suggests talk of Britain’s ‘isolation’ was premature

To listen to some commentators a few weeks ago, you’d have thought it was only EU membership – not shared interests and values – that brings allies together.

Eighteen countries express solidarity with the UK by expelling Russian ‘diplomats’

The “extraordinary international response by our allies” amounts to “the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers ever”, Johnson says.

Can May turn a good foreign policy week into political advantage at home?

Both leading EU states and the US are following the Prime Minister’s lead on Russia.

Iain Dale: Will the price of an EU deal be French-made blue passports and Spanish boats in British waters?

Plus: The Whips need to get a grip. I greet the recovery of the pound. I fear for the future of our high streets.

Garvan Walshe: How to show Putin we are taking the Salisbury attack seriously

The UK can not allow Russia to believe it got away with it without serious consequences.

Putin and the Kronsteen fallacy

It’s all too easy to ascribe the capabilities of Russia’s best chess players to its secret services. But consider a radical possibility: the latter have messed up.

Daniel Hannan: Brexit will be a success, but swivel-eyed Remainers make the process more costly than it needs to be

The message that some send to Brussels – that if the Eurocrats make it all painful enough then we can be bullied into changing our minds – is mistaken but harmful.