In 1975 I travelled as an undergraduate to Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and finally to Israel. I visited refugee camps and met a Palestinian militant, Bassam Abu Sharif, who had been blinded in one eye by a Mossad parcel bomb. I talked to policymakers in each country and heard a range of Israeli opinion. On return I wrote in the Jewish Chronicle of the need to address the plight of the Palestinians caused by their displacement. I made the case in favour of a two-state solution five years before the 1980 Venice declaration on Palestinian statehood. One of today’s many tragedies is that Hamas’s barbarism has pushed that solution even further from grasp. In principle, it remains the only way to end the chaos. But security for Israel is not reconcilable with the current fractured Palestinian leadership. The demand for Palestinian statehood cannot cease, but more creativity will be required from other voices in the region, all of whom will be needed to counter Iran’s sponsorship of terror and violence. The United States remains the indispensable actor but China also sees a much larger role for itself. Europe’s approach lacks coherence. As ever, real change must come from within. What seems like Benjamin Netanyahu’s inevitable political demise may yet offer the seeds of progress.

Just over a week ago I was out on the doorsteps in Mid Bedfordshire and was surprised not to hear more mentions of its erstwhile MP, Nadine Dorries. Silence reflected simmering contempt and electors were preoccupied by how best to vote tactically to punish the Conservatives. It was by no means obvious how to do so. Even Labour and Liberal Democrats were unsure. Normally they would have their target seats understood and divided between them. But Mid Beds was a conundrum. When Dorries first announced her intention to resign, both parties’ leaderships assumed it was Lib Dem for the taking. Peter Kyle, Labour’s rising frontbench star, was sent to show willing and mount a campaign that would probably fade away quietly after a few weeks. But on closer inspection, he discovered that an unexpectedly large number of Tory defectors were looking to Labour instead. There ensued some scratching of Labour heads and further energetic canvassing. The result, driven by the party’s street-fighting campaign head Morgan McSweeney, was a decision to go hell for leather to take the seat. I take my hat off to the Tory spin machine’s dismissal of the 20 per cent swing to Labour as merely a function of too many devoted but shy Conservative voters staying at home. It reminded me of how, decades ago, I had to explain the success of the Lib Dem candidate in ousting the Tory in the 1993 Newbury by-election. It was Labour’s brilliant campaign, I said, that had shaken the Tory tree and the apples had merely fallen into the Lib Dem basket. I almost managed to convince myself.

It seems to come to us all and I have succumbed to appearing in a political podcast produced by Times Radio for which publicity is under way. I am appearing beside Danny Finkelstein, who is not just a seasoned pundit and successful newspaper columnist with a vast reservoir of stories, jokes and insights but also now an acclaimed author. His book Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad is a thoroughly readable history of his family as he weaves light through the darkness of pogroms, mass population removals and the Holocaust. I am excited to present with him, yet I took some persuading – partly because of the growing glut of podcasts, but also because I naturally hate being outshone.

My week is ending with something else I never thought I would do: I am getting married to my partner of 27 years, Reinaldo. I am not sure why it has taken so long but Reinaldo has always wanted to guard his privacy; and perhaps behind my north London liberal exterior I am a bit of a social conservative. It is certainly testimony to both Tony Blair’s and David Cameron’s belief in marriage equality that it is possible for us to make this commitment to one another and they deserve the gratitude of many like us. Both these liberal-minded prime ministers took risks, Cameron especially, and in this respect Britain is a happier place as a result. Thank you.