When I wrote my very first editor’s message 19 months ago, I said that P&I expected leaders to display the moral courage required if we are to tackle existential threats.

I have been reminded how true this is every week. You expect courage and intelligence in those who purport to lead, and you make that crystal clear in the letters and articles we publish daily, and increasingly in the social media discussions they prompt.

A major part of our mission is holding those in power to account, making sure leaders know when and how they have fallen short. But the important flip side is naming solid leadership when we see it.

Three people are worthy of mention this week, and, a little surprisingly, they all make their living in politics: UK Labour leader Andy Burnham, newly anointed Australian Greens leader David Shoebridge and Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.

Let’s start with the man you probably don’t know much about. Standing on the floor of the UN, Eide invoked Italian Marxist politician and philosopher Antonio Gramsci, who was writing from one of Mussolini’s prison cells before the Second World War. Gramsci said: “The old world is dying, and a new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.”

Eide went on to deliver a powerful speech, laying out the urgent case for reform of the UN in order to save it. He reminded us that the UN was not built because mankind is perfect, but specifically because it is not. The speech will run in full in Saturday’s edition, and will launch a new occasional series, the ’longer read’. The idea is to add depth to the already rich daily menu with some longer explorations of key issues.

There has been significant coverage of new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s Labour Party conference speech for good reason. Burnham tackled many political ’no-go’ areas, admitted Britain is not at its best, and managed to talk of the very recent death of his father without glossing over the pain he was clearly feeling. Respected UK journalist Ian Dunt said it would be easy to be cynical but that the speech marked “an astonishing moment of radicalism and commitment”. We will feature the best coverage this weekend.

And finally, at a time when many are asking where the Greens are in Australian politics, new federal leader David Shoebridge has stood out for his moral clarity. We featured him this week, before he got the top job, making the case that Australia does not deserve a seat on the UN Security Council. We look forward to seeing what he can do to put the Greens back at the centre of political debate.

So, firmly on the agenda this week is the possibility that politics can deliver. We live in hope, but will, with your help, keep the pressure firmly on.

A bit like a deadly six-week election campaign, we know we are stretching the friendship as we enter the very last days of our fundraising campaign.

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Until next week …