When the strong help the weak, it makes us all stronger

We are being tough in saying it is a duty on the unemployed in future not only to be available for work - and not to shirk work - but also to get the skills for work. That is a new duty we are introducing.

In the weeks and months ahead, my task is to show I have the new ideas, the vision and the experience to earn the trust of the British people.

Sometimes it takes a crisis for people to agree that what is obvious and should have been done years ago, can no longer be postponed. We must create a new international financial architecture for the global age.

Think for a moment: what is the British equivalent of the U.S. Fourth of July, or even the French 14th of July for that matter?

I did maths for a year at university. I don't think I was very good at it. And some people would say it shows.

Boom and bust is a term that applied to the Conservative years and two of the worst recessions in history.