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

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.

You may see the emergence of a new political party from the body of the trade union movement which represents a very clear-cut socialist alternative policy and which gives expression to the views of the trade union movement in parliament.

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

The trouble with the Labour Party leadership and the trade union leadership, they're quite willing to applaud millions on the streets of the Philippines or in Eastern Europe, without understanding the need to also produce millions of people on the streets of Britain.

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.