In a democracy everybody has a right to be represented, including the jerks.

So, what I say to people is that politics has got to be about principle and values above all. Of course, there are times when you have to make accommodations.

Green politics at its worst amounts to a sort of Zen fascism; less extreme, it denounces growth and seeks to stop the world so that we can all get off.

I suppose I've always carried what is regarded as a bit of unnecessary baggage in Britain. I've always carried the charge that I am an intellectual in politics.

But the ability to articulate what you are doing, to be clear about it, and to stick to it is, I think, the essence of political leadership.

I believe in trying to get a balance between individual freedom on the one hand and social responsibility on the other.

In a democracy everybody has a right to be represented, including the jerks.