Although Treasury plots, divisions and apparent indecision cast a cloud over a sombre conference, Bernard Jenkin is full of admiration for the Prime Minister's resilience

The Spanish government has dismissed last week’s independence referendum in Catalonia as an illegal ‘mockery’ of democracy. But former SNP MP George Kerevan – who travelled to Barcelona to witness the vote as an official observer – found a region determined to make its voice heard through the ballot box

The spending decisions of successive governments have left our defences ‘hollowed out’, warns Defence Committee chair Julian Lewis

We have made huge progress in reducing the stigma around mental health. However, there is more we must do to break down barriers to treatment, writes Johnny Mercer

We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make Britain a global leader in green policy and rewrite our approach to environmentalism, farming and fishing, writes Michael Gove 

For centuries Britain has been the champion of free trade. My department is working hard to make sure will live up to that legacy after Brexit. 

At the general election, Scottish Conservatives showed that we have the same priorities as the people of Scotland. Now we must show we have the answers to the huge challenges we face. 

Conservative gloom is deep ahead of their conference next week. They know they need to change – or demography will do for them. 

Labour has positive proposals on skills and learning, from career-boosting apprenticeships, to a National Education Service, says Gordon Marsden 

The Conservatives are a party with a grassroots problem. The answer? A field in Berkshire, themed tents, a fiddle and a handful of dressed-down MPs: welcome to the ‘Ideas Fest’. Sebastian Whale reports.

It’s been a bumpy ride for the Conservatives, but transport minister Jesse Norman believes winning back voters’ support is simply about getting on with the task at hand. He talks to Elizabeth Bates 

She’s the politically poised leader of the Lords charged with steering Brexit through an unusually hostile second chamber – but Alan Mak finds Baroness Evans unruffled by one of the greatest legislative challenges of modern times