I really think in the Commonwealth of Europe you should have Russia. I listed a hundred countries that would be in it and it would then be a really European United Nations.

Undoubtedly the war with Iraq was a tragedy. I think it was also a crime.

A faith is something you die for; a doctrine is something you kill for; there is all the difference in the world.

Parliamentary democracy is, in truth, little more than a means of securing a periodical change in the management team, which is then allowed to preside over a system that remains in essence intact. If the British people were ever to ask themselves what power they truly enjoyed under our political system they would be amazed to discover how little it is

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

I don't want to commit myself in advocating a definite republican constitution which will get bogged down with the question of who would elect the President and when.

The way a government treats refugees is very instructive.