There stands no contradiction between giving voice to legitimate anxiety and at the same time, as and when exchange of fire commences, looking to the rest of the country, as well as all of us in the House, to give full moral support to our forces.

I'm a lifelong believer in trade unionism.

Actually, I think it's quite sensible not to take yourself too seriously.

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 should do something about the cigarettes; I quite accept that it's bad for your health, but you know a moderate tipple is positively beneficial and, at certain times, absolutely essential.

Politics is much too serious to be taken too seriously; equally, there are many aspects of it so laughable as to be lamentable.

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