We hope that the long darkness through which the Burmese people have lived may now be coming to an end.

I don't deny that there are problems in the intelligence world, but I would argue that in the UK we try to uphold the highest standards in the world.

Time is not on Gaddafi's side. People ask about the exit strategy. It's Colonel Gaddafi who needs an exit strategy because this pressure will only mount and it will be intensified over the coming days and weeks.

Very few conflicts in the history of the world have been satisfactorily concluded according to a published timetable, because you lose all flexibility in dealing with your opponents.

Those who enjoy responsibility usually get it; those who merely like exercising authority usually lose it.

What happened with Hurricane Katrina was the American electorate was forced to look at what lay behind the veneer of chest-beating. We all saw the consequences of having terrible government leadership.

It isn't so much that there are so few women in finance in total but, rather, few women in senior leadership roles. It is a real problem that we all need to focus on every day, but it is not a burden. It is an opportunity.

Leaving politics was a good thing. I was spared a miserable Tory government where I might have ended up as leader.