Ask your friends and colleagues how long it takes them every morning from the unwelcome alarm to the clunk of the front door closing behind them? The answers can illuminate their world view in an intriguing way.

Poverty in Britain is real, and it is getting worse. In a decent society, nobody should be forced to go to a food bank in order to feed their kids or be forced to go without heating when temperatures plummet. But even the government admits that this Welfare Uprating Bill alone will put 200,000 more children into poverty.

The message from the Early Action Task Force is loud and clear: to really make expenditure sustainable, as well as create a better society, switching more spend to early action is key.

At the end of a week when BP were fined $4.5 billion for the Deepwater Horizon disaster, attention should turn to avoiding the continuation of another waste of natural resources; human potential. Because every day thousands more barrels are being wasted by the promotion of a pursuit of happiness through synthetic means. Plugging this leak is a task for us all.

Yesterday's debate should not have been about the ethnicity and religion of the abuser, nor should it be an opportunity to tarnish an entire community. This is a debate about the vulnerability of victims, let's not forget about them.

For more than a decade I have been studying the community dynamics of Muslim Britons. Their views on the Arab uprisings are intriguing: sectarian fears, disappointments, scepticism, hope and ethnic concerns are all there.

How many illegal immigrants are there in the UK? Unlike other such questions - how many 12 year olds are there in the UK? How many gay Jews? - where, although we don't know the exact answer, either survey and administrative data allows us to make an informed and reasonably accurate guess, we don't know, even approximately. But a new initiative by the Metropolitan Police suggests that the number may in fact be surprisingly low.

There are not many things I dislike about living in London. Of course, the weather could be better sometimes; transport could definitely be improved upon; and an increase in the living wage would help most ordinary Londoners. But the one day of the year I have come to absolutely loathe and despise in over a decade of living in this great city is Remembrance Sunday.

Dear British politics, This isn't an easy thing for me to say; but I think we should see other people. I wish I could spin you the whole 'it's not you, it's me' line but, well, it's you. It's totally you.

The country has changed hugely, trust in institutions has fallen, a job for life is an idea of the past while the future looks deeply uncertain. It is no wonder that many people feel anxious and insecure. Addressing those insecurities does not mean abandoning pro-immigration principles or pandering to anyone - it means having the humility to accept that many others see things differently, seeking to understand why they do and trying to change their minds.

A commitment to allow prisoners to re-enter society, as opposed to just letting them rot, has real potential to improve the outcome of our justice system for everyone. So go for it Chris, go for it MoJ, go for it prison bosses, and as citizens we need to play our part in supporting this agenda.

Those currently running Miliband's policy review and roundtables at the Department for Local Government and Communities on 'integration' must look beyond the anti-multiculturalist rhetoric to note how leading politicians endorse the multiculturalist goal of Britishness being more inclusive; as their doing so raises difficult questions.

Those currently running Miliband's policy review and roundtables at the Department for Local Government and Communities on 'integration' must look beyond the anti-multiculturalist rhetoric to note how leading politicians endorse the multiculturalist goal of Britishness being more inclusive; as their doing so raises difficult questions.

Those currently running Miliband's policy review and roundtables at the Department for Local Government and Communities on 'integration' must look beyond the anti-multiculturalist rhetoric to note how leading politicians endorse the multiculturalist goal of Britishness being more inclusive; as their doing so raises difficult questions.