It depends on the constituency. It depends on the issue. It depends on the different members. We look at the leadership. We look at who's on what committees. That's a basic guide.

It's absolutely a given that there are certain events you need to participate in. It's that simple, frankly.

You just don't hear of people getting shut out completely.

She had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, like when you're swimming and you want to put your feet down on something solid, but the water's deeper than you think and there's nothing there

From the top of the bus she could see the vast bowl of London spreading out to the horizon: splendid shops with mannequins in the window, interesting people and already a much bigger world.

All the lies, all the ways we have of trying to make life simple for ourselves by putting people into boxes marked black, white, good, bad, when all of us are victims of our own prejudices.