Vicky Ford: Plastic pollution is a poverty issue – and Britain can make a difference

The last in a series of three extracts from a new book of essays from Conservative Friends of International Development and Save the Children.

Andrew Mitchell: If Trump’s America can hold the Saudis to account for their actions in Yemen, then so can we

At present, with the public support of their UK allies, there are few consequences for the Saudi-Emirati-led Coalition when they bomb children.

Andrea Jenkyns: Global Britain is battling malaria – and can do so even more successfully after we quit the EU

The first in a series of three extracts from a new book of essays from Conservative Friends of International Development and Save the Children.

Penny Mordaunt: “The more we do, the more we trade, and the less demand there will then be for aid.” Her development speech: full text.

Traditional donor governments gave a tiny fraction of the total sum needed last year. So how do we close that gap? The private sector has to be part of the answer.

Lord Ashcroft’s Conference Diary: How Leave voters reflect – good humouredly, mostly – on being called knuckle-dragging bigots

Plus: Labour anti-semitism, May’s African dancing. Will Mordaunt speak to the conference? And: will Russia take on NATO?

Bob Seely: Yes, Brexit and leadership are important. But so’s everything else. Here are some ideas for the future.

Scrap HS2. Integrate social care. Abolish NI. Reverse police cuts. Consider a new Bill of Rights. And much, much more.

Nicholas Daniels: Britain should pursue a more disruptive aid strategy

The Department for International Development should focus on building up the private sector in developing economies.

Theo Clarke: Our army and our aid workers are both essential to the UK’s security

DfID and the MoD are most effective when they work together, not when they fight one another for resources.

Robert Halfon: What Hunt has done for the NHS, Hinds must do for schools. We need textbooks, not tanks.

Plus: beware of claims that we’ve reached Peak Corbyn. Don’t raise fuel duty. Scrap hospital car parking charges. And: Hands keeps his promises.

Chris Skidmore: How the Conservative Party’s new Policy Commission will work

Five task forces cover energising our economy, transforming our public services, building a fairer society, sustaining our democracy and shaping a Global Britain.

“Where’s Penny?” The International Development Secretary is biding her time, and choosing her words carefully

Mordaunt – like Patel before her – is effective, ambitious, and keenly aware that many Conservative voters are not natural fans of aid spending.

Jeremy Lefroy: Why we will need a new development bank post-Brexit

Such an institution would not only replace the European Investment Bank but give us an opportunity to demonstrate expertise and innovation.

Alex Chalk: If British values are to be realised, Conservatives must fight for legal aid

If ‘fair play’ is to mean anything, then it is vital that legal redress is available to all – regardless of income or background.

Chloe Westley: Enough talk of tax rises from Tory Ministers. Let’s have tax cuts instead. Or else what are they for?

The Conservatives are not going to win the hearts and minds of the British people by proposing Labour-lite policies. There must be something different on offer.

Alexander Woolf: How young people could help the Government transform aid

Funding an ‘apprenticeship with a heart’ could help broaden access to overseas service whilst getting more money to the front line.