The Scottish Labour Party, while I have breath in my body, will listen to the views of trade unionists.

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.

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 got a very strong sense from my mother, in particular, that we are all equal in the sight of God.

The government don't want to talk about the consequences of the choices they make. They pretend there aren't any consequences.

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

It's true across the U.K. that those who had least to do with causing the economic crisis are carrying the heaviest burden. That's unacceptable.