I think if you're going to make political art, you have to engage at some level. You can't just write about politics, you have to try and be politics as well.

All the great political music was made at the height of political confrontations.

A virtue never tested is no virtue at all.

The idea that musicians should be talking about politics is, in some ways, quite a sixties' idea. Music no longer has a vanguard role in youth culture.

I came into this whole business by going to see Rock Against Racism gigs with the Clash.

You can be active with the activists or sleep in with the sleepers while you're waiting for the Great Leap Forwards.

Never trust anyone who has no doubts. And I'm not talking about scepticism either: scepticism can be a healthy thing. You can have an argument with someone who's a sceptic. When I say 'cynic', I mean someone who has given up, and they want you to give up too, so it makes them feel better about themselves.