The permissive society has been allowed to become a dirty phrase. A better phrase is the civilised society

The permissive society has been allowed to become a dirty phrase. A better phrase is the civilised society

A social democratic party without deep roots in the working class movement would quickly fade into an unrepresentative intellectual sect

I do not think you can push public expenditure significantly above 60 per cent and maintain the values of a plural society with adequate freedom of choice. We are here close to one of the frontiers of social democracy.

The great disadvantage of our present electoral system is that it freezes the pattern of politics, and holds together the incompatible because everyone assumes that if a party splits it will be electorally slaughtered

The fact is that Harold Wilson is a person no one can like, a person without friends.

The most moving speech I have ever heard was Hugh Gaitskell saying he would 'fight, fight and fight again to save the party we love. That was the right message in 1960, and I believe it is still the right message today.