I have two or three short things to say today. Firstly, in denying prisoners the vote I think that the Tories have demonstrated how simplistically they view the world. In many respects, criminals are victims of societal constraints and pressures. Denying them the right to vote simply pushes them further away from society. This is an utterly stupid, narrow-minded move on the part of the government. Of course, people argue that if you have perpetrated a crime, you should no longer have the full rights of a citizen, but I think this is to view prisoners as untermench – innately bad people who do not deserve to be seen as fully human.

Secondly, I have been fascinated to watch events unfolding in Egypt. When I last saw the news, yesterday evening, mubarack had stepped down. I find this remarkable, not least because it is pretty much the first real revolution I’ve had the chance to watch live. Question is, how much can we in the west interfere: we can’t interfere too much or we risk accusations of imperialism; yet that means we risk extremists like the Muslim brotherhood coming to power, which would not be good. It is very complex when you think about it: we must respect the will of the Egyptian people, but what if that will is to elect leaders whose views run directly counter to our liberal, democratic values.

Both of these things are part of what I call the paradox of liberalism. Liberalism, or the belief in tolerance, seems to bring up many contradictions with itself. but this doesn’t mean we should disregard it for a simpler, more hard-line approach. It seems to me that part of being a liberal is forever being conscious of the contradictions and complexities involved in life. Only then can we see the world as it truly is.