If there is a single trait in our character that has historically set us apart from other nations, it is our determination to limit the authority of those who rule over us.

Our neighbors shake their heads And take their valuables inside While my countrymen piss in the fountains To express their national pride.

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.

Going for constant growth is not actually delivering a decent standard of living and the prospect of your children having a better life than you do. That is the key thing that politics needs to deliver: a better life for your children. That's why people are taking their lives in their hands and crossing the Mediterranean and the English Channel.

We have laws to deal with people who defame other people's religion. We have laws to deal with people who try to blow up our citizens. We have due process. We have laws to deal with people who we capture during combat and war, but somehow Guantanamo Bay seems to be outside all that. And perhaps it's being maintained with the view to what people are talking about now, this idea of the "long war," that this is going to go on and on, and perhaps Iran is going to be next.

That's what I'm about -- getting engaged. Too many people don't wade in the mud with the politicians.

Don't saddle me with your ideals, and spare me all your guilt. For a poet with all the answers, has never yet been built.