My favourite novel is Frederick Forsythe's Day Of The Jackal, the story about the unproven case of this apparent Englishman who was hired to assassinate De Gaulle….

I think that former leaders are best seen occasionally and not too often heard - particularly on the subject of their successors!

We should have high expectations of our children, but politicians should not tell teachers how to meet them.

I believe that access to a university education should be based on the ability to learn, not what people can afford. I think there is no more nauseating a sight than politicians pulling up the ladder of opportunity behind them.

Three simple words - freedom, justice and honesty. These sum up what the Liberal Democrats stand for.

You won't catch Liberal Democrats describing trade unionists as wreckers.

I do think there is a great deal of caricature around the House of Commons. It is just that kind of place.