I was a weedy kid, not like one of those working-class men who can accommodate not being academically clever by physical strength and prowess.

Well, on lots of small things we could have done better, but on all the big things we called it right. You should make less mistakes as you get older, and I became a councillor back in 1971, so if by this stage in politics I'm making lots of big mistakes, then I shouldn't be here.

I have opened newspapers and read incredible lies.

I don't just denounce suicide bombers. I denounce those governments which use indiscriminate slaughter to advance their foreign policy.

I would like to sound like James Mason. I reckon if I'd had a better voice I could have been prime minister. It is the most irritating voice in public life.

I have no interest in managing my financial affairs.

I think democracy's undermined when those who own newspapers fill them with trivia rather than real issues.