Benn boosted. Cameron humbled.

THE marathon debate on bombing Syria made Hillary Benn a new parliamentary star.

The Prime Minister’s reputation was dented with his graceless refusal to apologise for a clumsy insult.

Our thoughts now are with our brave service people ordered to lay their lives on the line.

The mission could swiftly creep into a boots-on-the ground operation.

We must make sure the boots are those of soldiers from neighbouring Muslim states.

Drifting into another futile unwinnable war would be a tragedy.

Seeking non-existent WMD in Iraq and believing ‘no shot would be fired’ in Helmand led to the deaths of 633 of our bravest and best soldiers.

The combination of the ‘something must be done’ party with ‘give war a chance’ party in the Commons could lead us down a deadly path.

Alan Yentob has wisely left one of his jobs at BBC.

There was a real conflict of interest between his work as chairman of the scandal-hit Kids Company and his BBC jobs.

Broadcasters are unhappy that in squiring Miss Batmanghelidjh around BBC studios he might have intimidated interviewers.

The three hours my select committee spent questioning this remarkable pair created an indelible impression.

Our hard-hitting report will be a great read.

I’m baffled. So are some Local Tories.

A Tory AM effectively de-selected by his party has said he was the victim of an “orchestrated campaign”.

William Graham dropped from first to fifth place in a party members’ ballot for the regional list for the 2016 assembly election.

He said he had “upset too many people” backing projects such as an M4 relief road.

It’s up to the Tories to pick their own candidates.

But Newport will lose out without William Graham’s single-minded dedication to the interests of the city.

Politics aside, he has been a great AM.

Anyone stuck in our regular neuralgic traffic jams know his support for the three-route solution will be sorely missed.

Sad loss to Newport last week with the death of Doctor Bernard Goodwin.

Dr Goodwin was a dedicated GP from 1947-2008.

He retired at the grand old age of 85-years-old.

He was not keen on moves to obtain for him the honour he richly deserved.

He said: “What more can I have than the love and respect of my family and my patients?”

His was a wonderful long life of dedicated service. Rest in peace.