I have never been an idealist - that implies you aren't going to achieve something.

If youve got an industry where youve got massive investment, it doesnt matter whether you bring in alternative supplies. You still lose the money on that industry.

Contrast that with the call of the Liberal Democrats in April, when they were prepared to call upon the British people to participate in a 24-hour strike. It shows how far to the right the Labour Party's gone.

All too often miners, and indeed other trade unionists, underestimate the economic strength they have.

We will pave the way for a transformation and roll back the years of Thatcherism...We will turn economic ruin into economic recovery, and above all pave the way for a General Election to elect a Labour Government.

The labour movement had the best opportunity in 50 years to transform not merely an industrial situation and win an important battle for workers in struggle, but an opportunity to change the government of the day.

My father still reads the dictionairy every day. He says your life depends on your power to master words