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.

If one meets a powerful person - Adolf Hitler, Joe Stalin or Bill Gates - ask them five questions: 'What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? And how can we get rid of you?' If you cannot get rid of the people who govern you, you do not live in a democratic system.

The exhaustion of old age is something people who are younger don't fully appreciate.

Britain's continuing membership of the Community would mean the end of Britain as a completely self-governing nation...

I think to understand how the democratic process works is the most important thing, so people don't get frightened by it, and get put off, and give up.

I'm a democrat - I don't support Bush, I don't support Blair, I don't support Bin Laden.

I do not share the general view that market forces are the basis for political liberty. Every time I see a homeless person living in a cardboard box in London, I see that person as a victim of market forces. Everytime I see a pensioner who cannot manage, I know that he is a victim of market forces