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

I think that if politics is just about getting your backside on important seats, then it's a pretty worthless endeavor.

Anyone who supposed that when Margaret Thatcher left Number Ten she was going to take a Trappist vow did not know that formidable politician.

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

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.

You don't have to wait until people say they accept everything you say until you are actually prepared to sit down and discuss matters with them.

It is a sort of great Victorian truth that actually, trying to do the right thing is pretty good for you and pretty good for business as well, by and large.