Outsiders often have an insight that an insider doesn’t quite have.
My father was a manual worker.
My London constituency in Hackney has one of the highest levels of gun crime in the country. But the problem is no longer confined to inner city areas. Gun crime has spread to communities all over Britain.
My forebears refused to cut the sugar cane for plantation owners, and I am recognisably a product of that background.
You can’t defend the indefensible – anything you say sounds self-serving and hypocritical.
There are 101 websites out there for debate – this was a blatant last attempt to get someone to stand against Gordon Brown.
Tackling childhood obesity is key.
I don’t think you can have pain and soul-searching doing the right thing for your child.
I spend a lot of time visiting local organisations.
Being an MP is a good job, the sort of job all working-class parents want for their children – clean, indoors and no heavy lifting. What could be nicer?
My family were from Jamaica.
I want to write a best-selling book.
You learn from mistakes.
In politics, the people I most despise are those who have no values.
Finally, there’s a sense in which I look at this Westminster village and London intelligentsia as an outsider.
When fast food is not a treat but a dietary staple, the children surf the internet all day in dark corners of the room and are bombarded with latest gadgets. Things replace parental standards.
It’s very lonely bringing up a child on your own.
I believe every abortion is a tragedy.
I’m not thick-skinned at all, and of course I’m hurt by people attacking me as a person.
My mother liked Jim Reeves. I hated his records. He was unbearable.
I wanted my marriage to work, but it didn’t.