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

My father was 64 when I was conceived, my mother 38, which was late for babies in the 1940s.

Ronnie Barker will forever be remembered as one of the great comic actors.

I think the biggest mistake I made was this wretched ability to see both sides of an argument.

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.

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