The Tory conference was a pseudo-sacred affair, with devotees paying homage in front of Thatcher’s old shrouds — and your reporter, initially barred, only need mention he’d once met her to gain access. But would she consider what was on offer a worthy legacy, asks ANDREW MURRAY

ENGLAND has one of the largest canal networks in the world. Wales and Scotland also have canals but only a few. Today, our 2,000 miles of canals and rivers flow through cities, past homes, alongside offices and into the countryside, bringing leisure opportunities to millions.
From boating, fishing, walking and cycling, they offer a range of activities. Their history, however, reveals a very different function.
Most of our canals were built 200 years ago, but their history dates back to the Romans who built our oldest canal, the Fossdyke Navigation.

JOHN GREEN has doubts about the efficacy of the Freedom of Information Act, once trumpeted by Tony Blair

JOHN GREEN is enchanted by the story of women’s farm work, both now and the the 1940s, that brims with political and social insight

JOHN GREEN welcomes a remarkable study of Mozambique’s most renowned contemporary artist

Despite the primitive means the director was forced to use, this is an incredibly moving film from Gaza and you should see it, urges JOHN GREEN