Britain cannot afford to cut itself off from what is going on in the world, we are too interconnected with what is going on, we have a powerful history and tradition of taking an interest in what is going on in the world, we've also got a very real interest in the future, in remaining connected.

A generous basic state pension is the least a civilized society should offer those who have worked hard and saved through their whole lives.

Cutting budget deficits can never be just an exercise in economics.

We can help people. We have got to move this economy from its over-dependence on debt. People should have manageable debts, a manageable mortgage.

There are plenty of people who don't want change - the Labour Party, some of their militant trade union friends like Unite busy causing strikes at the very beginning of a fragile recovery.

People know that billions of pounds are wasted. Billions of pounds never get near the families that need it. It is an absolute outrage that hard-working people go out to work every day, get up early, come back late, don't see enough of their families in order to pay taxes to fund vast bureaucracies that are inefficient in order to fund a welfare system which allows too many people to sit for the whole of their lives on out-of-work benefits without going out to look for work.

We have to be pretty tough with mortgage companies and say you have got to give people the chance to work out their debts, sort out future mortgages.