A country of long shadows on county cricket grounds, warm beer, green suburbs, dog lovers, and old maids cycling to holy communion through the morning mist.

The first requirement of politics is not intellect or stamina but patience. Politics is a very long run game and the tortoise will usually beat the hare.

Too many people looked to me in the eye and did not tell me the truth.

Well what would happen is that if Greece defaulted and couldn't pay its debts, all the Greek bonds that are held in other banking systems across Western Europe would suddenly have no value. You could as a knock-on effect create a banking crisis in Western Europe.

I think the majority of the British people are still sanguine about the need for war.

They seem to have moved from total opposition to total subservience.

If we want to deliver opportunity for all, we need an economy that delivers jobs for the future.