I'm interested in language. We used to call it the War Office. Then it became the Ministry of Defence. We used to talk about the hydrogen bomb, now we talk about a deterrent. And the language is very cleverly constructed to give the impression that it's not what it is.

I have had the advantage of a radical Christian upbringing

I don't believe in the hereditary principle in the House of Lords. Imagine going to the dentist, sitting in the chair and he says, 'I'm not a dentist myself, but my father was a dentist and his father before him. Now, open wide!

An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern.

The people who have sacrificed their view in order to get to the top have very often left no footprints in the sands of time.

I try to operate on two unconnected levels. One on the practical level of action in which I am extremely cautious and conservative. The second is the realm of ideas where I try to be very free

When you think of the number of men in the world who hate each other, why, when two men love each other, does the church split?