Times are tough but they are tough because the government is trying to do the right thing, whether on public service reform, education, health, anti-social behaviour and welfare, or in counter-terrorism.

I learnt a lot in government, and I've learnt a lot since leaving government. The kind of journey of being in government is that you start at your most popular and least capable, and you end at your most capable and least popular.

What I will say to people is what you require are rules and not prejudices.

People should go about their daily lives, to work, to live, to travel, to shop, to do the things people did in the same way as they did them before 11 September.

Yes, I feel I've got something to say. If people want to listen, that's great, and if they don't, that's their choice.

In government you carry each hope; each disillusion. And in politics it's always about the next challenge.

We are all internationalists now, whether we like it or not...