The Scottish finance minister also launched an attack on Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont's review of universal services, like free bus travel, describing it as a "cuts commission".

BBC: John Swinney

In reaction to Suez, France had constructed a new identity as the ostensible leader of Europe, upholding a set of universal values in competition with the Americans.

ECONOMIST: The Suez crisis

This year's Oxford Debate features journalists Peter Hitchens and Simon Jenkins discussing drugs policy, while former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown will host a debate on universal values.

BBC: Oxford Literary Festival 2013 begins

Asked about his policy on universal benefits for pensioners, such as the winter fuel allowance, the Labour leader said he was a supporter of the payment and there was independent evidence that it had been effective at tackling fuel poverty.

BBC: Pensioner in front of heater

That'll be Carwyn Jones , leader of Labour in this neck of the woods, where the Labour line is that universal, rather than means-tested services, are a key part of progressive politics (and that cutting universal benefits brings you relatively little cash but a whole lot of political pain).

BBC: Freebies: the 'cynical trick'?

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, promised to force votes on Democratic measures, such as universal coverage for Medicare recipients.

CNN: On heels of Bush plan, Lott confident of congressional prescription compromise

That allowed NBC Universal to break even on them after first warning that it expected them to be a loss leader.

FORBES: With 'Today' Faltering, NBC Reassigns Executive Producer