Yes, you need substance in politics - but I think your style also says something about how you arrive at some of your conclusions.

The quicker we get rid of the lobby system the better for all of us. I don't think in this day and age it is tenable to have these nods and winks, and on-the-record and off-the-record briefings.

I'm a lifelong believer in trade unionism.

There are hard choices to be made in balancing the country's security and an individual's liberties. But it is a choice that has to be faced.

The one thing we can all be sure about in politics is you are as well to expect the unexpected.

Politicians are good at saying how Government must do more, but we must also think carefully about where Government should do less.

Further Education should be about the ability to learn, not the ability to pay - everyone who is able should have the opportunity, regardless of their family background. I don't want to see students struggling with huge debts or frightened off even going to university in the first place.