Interview: Francois insists that the ERG wants the backstop ditched altogether – not tweaked

“In my personal opinion, Olly Robbins should go to the Tower, in which case he should arrive by river.”

A day to honour George Herbert Walker Bush

This article was originally published on the anniversary of the former President’s election. We re-issue it today as news comes of his death.

Iain Dale: If we had a government with Cox and Balls

Plus: Crouch’s revenge. Islam’s departure. Brexit, May’s prospective deal and Labour’s internal agonies. And: Trumpety-Trump as the President claims victory.

The Conservative infiltration debate is all the wrong way round

The Party’s main problem isn’t having too many applicant members – it’s having too few present ones.

Who does the Conservative Party belong to?

The task of choosing the final two runners must remain with MPs, who know them better than the members do.

Like Hague, I voted Remain. But he is wrong to condemn Johnson, Davis and Rees-Mogg. Here is why.

His attack on the Brexiteers as Romantics runs the risk of dismissing the EU referendum as a fraud.

No pothead is an island

Any eventual review of drugs policy as a whole must focus on collective consequences rather than individual rights.

Alex Morton: Are you angry with the Lords? If so, don’t threaten to abolish or elect it. Here’s a better reform.

It should be able to amend proposed legislation only once – or propose laws itself once, with the Commons only needing to vote against these to block them.

An open letter to Sajid Javid

Here are five priorities. Sort out the extremism mess. Get an immigration policy move-on. Beef up your Windrush review. Don’t mess with ID cards. Or identity politics. Oh, and P.S…

Baroness Helic and Chloe Dalton: The victims of sexual violence in war have no #MeToo hashtag to highlight their story

The UK could set a lead by announcing that it will dedicate a fixed or minimum percentage of the aid budget to fighting sexual and gender based violence.

James Gray: Syria – and why May should act without a Commons vote

Parliament’s job should be to hold the Prime Minister and Executive to account for what they have to do, rather than becoming a party to it.

What is a Conservative? Answers to Soubry on a postcard, please.

P.S: Only one Tory Prime Minister in recent years was “taken down” by Tory MPs. Clue: it was neither Major nor Cameron.

Voters need to take defence spending seriously – then the Government will

During the Cold War being ‘strong on defence’ was a potent vote winner, and the money flowed accordingly.

Sending up the Left is not enough. But it’s certainly a start – and Tom Harwood is doing it effectively

His satire on the NUS is highly enjoyable, but as he himself recognises, the Conservatives are a long way from finding messages to reach younger voters.

Lewis Baston: Forty years ago, another Tory conference. It saw that famous Hague speech. And the arrival of Reg Prentice…

The former Labour MP’s defection, and the later split within that party, has not yet found in a parallel in our own turbulent times.