Words of the week

I’M so thrilled that you’ve cracked it. – The Duke of Cambridge personally called Oxford researchers to congratulate them on their vaccine breakthrough.

WE need to help them and we need to encourage them and we need to keep a kind of flame going. – Actress Dame Judi Dench says young people coming out of drama school need support.

I HAVE worked over five weeks and I have lost a pound and a half. – Actress Caroline Quentin is “stunned” at her failure to lose weight during her time on Strictly Come Dancing.

I KNOW the care sector well. – Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock on the crisis in care homes.

ORDER. Have you pressed the button, Prime Minister? – Speaker Sir Lindsay hyle after Boris Johnson’s audio link to the House of Commons was cut off.

I THINK this makes the case for investing in broadband. – Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey.

THE last ruler that told us how we may or may not celebrate Christmas was Oliver Cromwell. It didn’t well, did it? – Tory MP Sir Desmond Swayne’s warning to Boris Johnson over lockdowns.

OUR health emergency is not yet over and our economic emergency has only just begun. – Chancellor Rishi Sunak at the outset of his Spending Review.

THIS crisis should not be paid for on the backs of the working class, but it is. – Leeds East MP Richard Burgon.

LOSING a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few. – The Duchess of Sussex on her miscarriage heartbreak.

WALKING out in empty stadia is pretty soul- destroying. – Former snooker world champion Shaun Murphy.

WE all have views, but when you take a job at the BBC, you leave all that at the door. I’m not paid to tell you my opinions. – BBC Radio 4’ s Today programme host Nick Robinson.

WHAT sad news. I lost a great friend and the world lost a legend. – Football icon Pele’s tribute to Diego Maradona.