Politicians react to terrorism much as parents might respond when their lisping tiny offspring come home from sex-ed classes and ask them to explain what lesbians do, writes PETER HITCHENS
When it comes to Wimbledon fortnight, I put a line through the diary - and would trample over both my grandmothers' graves to go to SW19, writes RACHEL JOHNSON.
From time to time we obtain evidence of how deeply we have failed to communicate the beliefs and values which have, over the centuries, made this such a unique society.
On Wednesday, I did something I almost never do. I stayed up late to watch a football match. Around 2.4 million Brits did the same, as it happens, cheering on the England Women's World Cup team in their semi-final with Japan.
DAILY MAIL COMMENT: George Osborne is no longer encumbered by the Liberal Democrat millstone, and will deliver the first exclusively Tory budget in 20 years from a position of huge strength.
When this country was independent, the Queen was the head of our nation, the lady to whom we are subjects, but can she still be out sovereign ad a subject of the European Union?
Today, though, having just had the worst week of my life, I yearn for a few moments' respite from the internet, after spending years in constant search of a wi-fi connection, by LIZ JONES.
The trial of former headmistress Anne Lakey made me see how blinkered my attitude that only men pose a sexual threat to children was blinkered, by RACHEL JOHNSON.
Rightly, we respond with grief and rage to the callous and savage murders of so many innocent people in Tunisia, a large number of them our fellow countrymen and women.
Fifteen years ago, after a hijacked Afghan airliner was diverted to Stansted, I invented a spoof game show called Asylum! It's been doing the rounds on the internet ever since. Here are the edited highlights:
Samuel Price and Elizabeth Sandlin weren't exactly a couple. They were a pair of attractive twentysomethings who, over the course of a year, met up now and again for sex with each other.
STEPHEN GLOVER: We awoke yesterday morning to the maddening news that the Scottish National Party government in Edinburgh is snubbing the Queen by pulling out of a deal to fund the monarchy.
What is the point of the police if wrongdoers aren't afraid of them? asks PETER HITCHENS. Yet Durham Constabulary has actually produced a poster chiding parents for using the police as bogeymen.
There are limits to the dumbing-down of the monarchy, and I hope we have reached them with the words 'the missus' over the footie, writes RACHEL JOHNSON.
JAMES FORSYTH: David Cameron is eating for Britain. He consumed 12 courses in 24 hours as he tried to persuade his fellow heads of government of Britain's case for EU reform.
Ed Miliband's notorious 'Ed stone' listing his promises on a giant slab, has turned out to be not just his own political tombstone, but the Labour Party's too, after 115 years.
The migrants who have illegally entered the Greek Island of Kos, are among thousands who have made the journey across the Mediterranean to Europe in the ever-deepening crisis.
It's been another bumper season for rollercoasters, writes CRAIG BROWN, with the phrase being used to describe everything from Katie Price's love life to 16th century politics.
Sue Berelowitz was allowed to take voluntary redundancy from her £99,333-a-year role as Deputy Children's Commissioner. She received a golden goodbye of £134,000.
Shaker Aamer, pictured with two of his children, is still being held at Guantanamo Bay without trial after 13 years despite US president Barack Obama promising to 'prioritise' his release.
It's been another bumper season for rollercoasters, writes CRAIG BROWN, with the phrase being used to describe everything from Katie Price's love life to 16th century politics.
In a fascinating development, I learn David, the elder and less fanatically socialist Miliband brother - chosen political son and heir of Tony Blair - could be available in three years.
Over the next five years, the Conservatives need to work on promoting genuine competition to offer customers a real choice, while giving regulators sharp teeth to attack malpractice.
This supposed City superwoman also ignored a personal plea for a meeting from the children's grieving father. Under such circumstances, some people might hesitate to accept a bonus at all.
The picture of Prince Charles meeting Gerry Adams is inexpressibly sad. There is no point in protesting against it. Worse things will be happening soon, writes PETER HITCHENS.
Fashion legend Miuccia Prada, the Italian designer, has just slammed women who don't work and worry about their wrinkles instead, writes RACHEL JOHNSON.
Nigel Farage's aggressive former henchman, Raheem Kassam, sent a text to his arch-enemy - Ukip deputy chairman Suzanne Evans - shortly before she appeared on The Andrew Marr Show.
Is it too much to ask, as refugees flee the terror and Palmyra awaits demolition, that the West's leaders might at least call an emergency summit - and end this policy paralysis?
Sadie Frost stood outside London's High Court on Thursday and spoke of her great relief at being awarded £260,250 in damages for having her phone hacked, writes AMANDA PLATELL.
This week BEL MOONEY offers advice to a lonely grandmother who says she has lost contact with her grandchildren because of a feud with her daughter-in-law.
Viagra can rescue a chap's sex life if his difficulties are all about rising to the occasion. But it can't deal with flagging desire - and that's a huge, neglected problem for middle-aged men.
Sam has pro tem sacrificed her own ambitions out of duty - and love - and for that her part in the Tory triumph should be acknowledged, writes RACHEL JOHNSON.
When the Business Secretary fell, every desk at campaign headquarters was banged in triumph. The Tories knew then that they were on course for a famous victory, writes JAMES FORSYTH.
In the 30 years of working in fashion, I've only come across one person who answered my urgent email query at the weekend, even on Oscar night, writes LIZ JONES.
Newly freed from the constraints imposed by the Liberal Democrats, the Prime Minister needs to make the most of his liberation. Immigration reform should be at the top of his list.
On Thursday, I took part in a debate at the Cambridge Union. As a vegetarian, I got asparagus, followed by... yes, you guessed it, a circle of puff pastry with a disc of goat's cheese on top.
This is a defining week for Britain: one which will influence all our individual destinies. Rarely in the long democratic history of our islands has a General Election result been so unpredictable.
My heart sank as I joined David Cameron on the election trail this week, when I learned that our first port of call was to be the Chartered Accountants' Hall in the City of London, writes TOM UTLEY.
Nothing Miss Reeves said was remotely newsworthy - until the moment when she had to big up the local candidate. She hailed her as 'the fantastic...'; and here she stalled, writes QUENTIN LETTS.
The 21st-century police 'service' seem to model themselves on Monty Python, concentrating on so-called 'crimes' that most people wouldn't consider illegal, writes RICHARD LITTLEJOHN.
The Queen had intended to mark her son's tenth wedding anniversary by amending the state prayers of the Church of England to include the Duchess of Cornwall, writes EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE.
Even by their own pitifully low standards, the Lib Dems yesterday plumbed new depths of treachery and deceit. Danny Alexander accused the Tories of having a 'secret' plan to slash child benefit.
The Conservatives have got some things wrong during this election campaign, but their stance on Scotland is definitely not one of them, according to STEPHEN GLOVER.
Everything about SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon (pictured) says makes my blood boil, and yet there is something about the woman that I find utterly compelling, writes SARAH VINE.
In 2008, it was Miliband who was responsible for pushing through the final version of the Climate Change Act - easily the most costly law passed by Parliament, writes CHRISTOPHER BOOKER.
Ed Miliband went on an amazing telly offensive last night - amazingly saccharine and yankeedoodle, that is. It was so sugary, I felt a little diabetic high coming on writes QUENTIN LETTS.
In what must be a new low for British politics, Ed Miliband interviewed by that seriously disturbed narcissist, exhibitionist, ex-drug addict and sick abuser of Andrew Sachs, Russell Brand.
My qualified support for DNR orders does nothing to appease my profound concern about the latest guidelines from the NHS on their use, revealed in yesterday's Mail, writes DR MAX PEMBERTON.
The brutal truth is that Ed Miliband's latest policies on private landlords and stamp duty are crude socialist remedies which would do far more harm than good.
Clegg has pledged £3.5 billion over the next Parliament to 'develop a clear approach on preventing mental illness' - but the Lib Dems still want to legalise cannabis, writes ANDREW PIERCE.