Any parent wants the best for their children. I am not going to make a choice for my child on the basis of what is the politically correct thing to do.

I think crime is a huge issue for people. If you were living in the poorest state, and you've got drug dealers at the end of the street, and your life's in misery, and you're afraid of your kids going out the door. I mean, the job of progressive politicians is to do something about that.

Stirring is OK. It just depends what happens in the end.

I happen to think it's the politics that makes you electable, but the reason for that is politicians sometimes talk about electability as if it's just a matter of conning the public. Actually, it's a matter of persuading the public, and in my experience, usually, the public gets it right.

Leaders lead but in the end it's the people who deliver.

The moment you stigmatize a whole group of people - for example, Muslims - then, obviously, you make the decent, law-abiding Muslims feel as if they're under threat in some way or that their legitimacy, as members or citizens of society, is brought into question.

I'm afraid that's in the nature of modern politics - it's as much conducted by abuse as argument.