Donald Trump has been getting a lot of criticism, quite rightly, for his inability to fully condemn neo-nazi groups following the terrible terror attack in Virginia.

For the last few weeks, two international crises have dominated news coverage in the UK. The first of which is the continuing and troubling efforts of the North Korean regime to develop nuclear weapons.

Last week, Parliament rose for the summer. This meant that politicians have been set free to concentrate on the goings-on in their constituencies, to spend a bit more time with their families and escape from the Westminster bubble.

Democracy is a complicated thing. As we have seen in Iraq and Afghanistan, building a fully functioning democracy requires so much more than just giving people the vote.

The Queen’s Speech is always an important day in Westminster, as Ministers sets out their plans for the next Parliament.

Last Thursday was an awful night. Thanks to the amazing efforts in Scotland by Ruth Davidson and her team, the Conservatives only had a net loss of 13 seats: however, we lost 33 sitting Conservative MPs.

In February 2011 I was part of the last UK parliamentary group to enter Syria, as the Arab spring began to spread through the region.

Last year, I used this column to argue for NATO to undertake a new role, and to guarantee proportionate responses against military targets for any regime anywhere in the world that violated international norms, such as the use of chemical weapons.

The current Government is managing our great nation through a period of huge change. Much focus has, rightly, been upon the efforts to secure our exit from the European Union and forge a new relationship with our friends and allies on the continent.