I love hard political debate and I love beating somebody on a political point but what I'm more frustrated by is the politics where you play the man not the politics.

I'm pretty proud of having completed a marathon myself, so I can only imagine the pride that real athletes feel when they are picked for the Olympic or the Paralympic Games.

Progressive politics is not something to be bolted on to another cause.

My Scottish Labour Party is a crusade - to fight poverty, inequality and injustice.

My biggest ambition is to bring together what happens in the real world with what politicians talk about.

My working life has always been wrapped up in doing my job to the best of my abilities and doing the best for my family. It is not a contest between the two.

If I have learned one thing in life, it is never to take any man's own estimate of himself. He could very well be mistaken.