We spend billions of pounds on welfare, yet millions are trapped on welfare. It's not worth their while going into work.

The biggest danger to the European Union comes not from those who advocate change, but from those who denounce new thinking as heresy. In its long history, Europe has experience [with] heretics who turned out to have a point.

I have no time for those who say there is no way Scotland could go it alone. I know first-hand the contribution Scotland and Scots make to Britain's success - so for me there's no question about whether Scotland could be an independent nation.

My question right now would be to Colonel Gaddafi, which is: 'What on earth do you think you are doing? Stop it.'

Just as I believe that Britain should want to remain in the EU so the EU should want us to stay.

There are some people who seem to think that the way you reduce the cost of living in this country is for the state to spend more and more taxpayers' money. It is as if somehow you measure the compassion of the government by the amount of other people's money it can spend.

I think it true that, you know, sometimes things start to change even before a government changes and, actually, I think you can begin to see even the Labour machine beginning to understand that it has become over-reliant on targets and processes, that local governments have been over-bossed and bullied.