There's people on the left who say, the ballot box is a waste of time. Forget them. When Mandela voted for the first time at the age of 76 there was a lot of grown men, including me, wept buckets. That was what it was about. It doesn't solve things, but it gives you the mechanism to hold to account the people with power.

I am a public library

Broadcasting is really too important to be left to the broadcasters.

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!

I am on the right wing of the middle of the road and with a strong radical bias.

If ever I left the House of Commons it would be because I wanted to spend more time on politics.

I have had the advantage of a radical Christian upbringing