IT is clear that while some high streets are thriving, others face stiff competition from internet shopping and out-of-town shopping centres.

So Mary Portas’ review on the future of high streets is welcome and I look forward to seeing the government’s response to her recommendations in the spring.

A competition has been designed that will give 12 town centres across the country the chance to become “Portas Pilots” so they can benefit from government funding and expert support to breathe new life into their town centre.

I’d encourage small towns in Wiltshire to apply and will be disappointed if we don’t get a pilot running in the county in the future.

* I am saddened that Russia and China’s perceived self-interest have got in the way of their duty as major powers to support the people of Syria and the Arab League against President’s Assad’s brutal regime.

Siding with him puts both countries firmly on the wrong side of the argument. Assad’s regime will draw much comfort from the spineless positioning of Moscow and Beijing and redouble the murderous campaign we saw evidence of in Homs over the weekend. But Assad and his henchmen should heed the unfortunate end of tyrants in the region, judicial or otherwise, evidenced by Saddam and Gaddafi.

* Abu Qatada is a dangerous man with abhorrent views on the western liberal society that he is perfectly happy to take from.

He poses a threat to our safety while running rings round a UK and European legal system that he despises, the same system that is meant to protect the public. The government is right to challenge the ruling against his deportation to answer terror charges in Jordan.

* The decision of Network Rail to forego directors’ bonuses is sensible.

Now we need to unpick the structure set up before the election so that the undertaking has better governance and a remuneration framework that reflects achievement, not failure. I look forward to this, and much else besides, happening through the forthcoming Rail Review.