You've had an extremely weak euro on the foreign exchange markets, you've had a very dubious policy being followed.

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

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.

If you look at things that really affect people's lives - sport, the arts, charities - they were always at the back of the queue for government money - health, social security, defence, pensions were all way ahead. And each of those areas - sports, the arts, the lottery - got relatively petty cash from the government.

Of course there are regrets. I shall regret always that I found my own authentic voice in politics. I was too conservative, too conventional. Too safe, too often. Too defensive. Too reactive. Later, too often on the back foot.

When the euro was born, it was born in the wrong economic circumstances.

I think it's extremely unlikely that the European Union will fracture with nations dropping off the edge.