The Labour party has never been a socialist party, although there have always been socialists in it – a bit like Christians in the Church of England.
A faith is something you die for; a doctrine is something you kill for; there is all the difference in the world.
No medieval monarch in the whole of British history ever had such power as every modern British Prime Minister has in his or her hands. Nor does any American President have power approaching this.
I’d rather die on my feet making a speech than die of Alzheimer’s – and that’s what I’m planning to do.
Through me the energy policy of the whole Common Market is being held up. Without opening old wounds, it pleases me no end.
I think the truth is that the Labour Party isn’t believed any more because people suspect it will say anything to get votes. The rebuilding of some radical alternatives to Thatcherism – and by that I mean all-party Thatcherism – will require us to do some very difficult things.
We are paying a heavy political price for 20 years in which, as a party, we have played down our criticism of capitalism and soft-peddled our advocacy of socialism.
Hope is the fuel of progress and fear is the prison in which you put yourself.
The Tory party is the enemy of democracy.
The House of Lords is the British Outer Mongolia for retired politicians.
Making mistakes is how you learn.
Through talk, we tamed kings, restrained tyrants, averted revolution.
I think very often the boat-rockers turn out to be the people who are building the craft.
An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern.
It’s the same each time with progress. First they ignore you, then they say you’re mad, then dangerous, then there’s a pause and then you can’t find anyone who disagrees with you.
The Marxist analysis has got nothing to do with what happened in Stalin’s Russia: it’s like blaming Jesus Christ for the Inquisition in Spain.
I am a public library.
The Establishment decided Thatcher’s ideas were safer with a strong Blair government than with a weak Major government. We are given all these personalities to choose between to disguise the fact that the policies are the same.
Undoubtedly the war with Iraq was a tragedy. I think it was also a crime.
It is government policy to phase out subsidies to nationalised industries. In line with this, the government hopes that the coal industry will be able to operate without the need for assistance apart from social grants.