Quotes
“A lot of people didn't feel attracted to Labour, so they voted in desperation for other things.”
“A national investment bank can invest to provide us with the foundations of shared and ecologically sustainable growth: renewing the U.K.'s energy, digital and transport infrastructure which lags woefully behind other major economies.”
“After only two or three weeks in office, we discovered we had a backlog of 100,000 emails sent to me. We had a backlog of a thousand invitations to speak at places all over the country - and all over the world, for that matter.”
“Basically, on the question of Europe, I want to see a social Europe, a cohesive Europe, a coherent Europe, not a free market Europe.”
“Because I've never had any higher education of any sort, I've never held in awe those who have had it or have a sense of superiority over those who don't.”
“Diversity in media is something that is intrinsic to a democratic society. We do not want the whole media owned by one person.”
“I am a proud trade unionist.”
“I am just an ordinary person trying to do an ordinary job.”
“I do not own a car, and my main form of travel to Westminster and in my constituency is by bicycle. I also take my bike on trains to meetings in other parts of the country, which enables me to see other cities and the other parts of the country.”
“I do think the public want to see politicians acting in a different way. What's brought young people into our campaign is that they were written off by political parties but they had never written off politics, and what we have is a huge number of young people, very enthusiastic and brimming with ideas. Those ideas have got to be heard.”
“I find if you are in an office, the crisis finds you. If you're not in the office, the crisis finds somebody else.”
“I have already said and will continue to say that I won't respond to personal abuse, and I never make any personal abuse, ever, to anybody. I just don't do that kind of politics.”
“I have always had a very busy life. The difference is that a lot more people are helping advise me what to do, and a lot more people are observing what I do. But in terms of time and working schedule, it is not that different from my normal working week.”
“I have always worked long hours and very hard. It is the way I am. Same as always. Up about seven and get to bed about 12 to 1, something like that.”
“I have dealt with a pretty interesting mix of young people, many of whom have never been involved in any form of politics at any level who are interested in alternatives to austerity and debt, and older people who left the Labour party, mainly over Iraq, who are coming back in.”
“I haven't had vast amounts of ministerial experience - in fact, none at all. But I do have a lot of experience of people.”
“I make mistakes like anybody else, I will make mistakes. And you have to reflect on it, and you have to listen to people. That is the key.”
“I think in English history a very interesting character is John Lilburne. Very interesting character because of the way he managed to develop the whole debate about the English civil war into something very different.”
“I think NATO is a Cold War product. I think NATO historically should have shut up shop in 1990 along with the Warsaw Pact; unfortunately, it didn't.”
“I think there's good in everybody.”
“I think we can spend too much time worrying about polls.”
“I think we should all be accountable to our parties, but I also think that accountability should be a process of engagement: that MPs do engage with their constituency parties, do engage with their constituents, and MPs do change their minds on things because of local opinion.”
“I think we should talk about what the objectives of the party are, whether that's restoring the Clause Four as it was originally written or it's a different one, but I think we shouldn't shy away from public participation, public investment in industry, and public control of the railways.”
“I understand the principles of dissent in parliament.”
“I want a world of peace. I'm not interested in bombs. I'm not interested in wars. I'm interested in peace.”
“I want to see a more collective style in how our party operates, in politics as a whole.”
“If there is 'right to buy' for council tenants and housing association properties, then why shouldn't that apply to all tenants? Some landlords are decent, very caring people, but some of them are truly appalling.”
“I'm a leader, not a dictator. I want to persuade people rather than threaten or control them.”
“I'm interested in the idea that we have a more inclusive, clearer set of objectives. I would want us to have a set of objectives which does include public ownership of some necessary things such as rail.”
“I'm just a very normal person, living in north London, doing my best for my area and to put forward some serious debate on issues in the party.”
“I'm not joining in personal attacks... I don't do personal attacks.”
“I'm not somebody with over-weening ambition.”
“I'm quite concerned that if I spend time in the office, someone will always find something for you to do. There's always a crisis that needs your urgent attention.”
“I'm very proud of the fact that I voted against the Iraq war. And proud that I voted strongly not for students to be saddled with thousands and thousands of pounds worth of debt.”
“In my own constituency, the benefit cap has had the effect of social cleansing: of people receiving benefit, but the benefit is capped; therefore, they can't meet the rent levels charged and are forced to move. It's devastating for children, devastating for the family and very bad for the community as a whole.”
“Inequality is a terrible waste of time, a waste of people's resources.”
“It is important that politicians defend their ability to act without fear or favour, and it is in the public interest that they hold ministers and public servants to account.”
“It is opposition to economic orthodoxy that leads us into austerity and cuts. But it is also a thirst for something more communal, more participative. That, to me, is what is interesting in this process.”
“It is time we recognised the huge contribution that migration has made to the economic growth of this country.”
“I've been in Parliament since 1983, and I've been involved in many issues over the time.”
“I've been quite involved in a lot of U.N. operations over the years. I was a U.N. observer at the East Timor referendum in 2000. I've been very involved in that for a long time.”
“I've got lots of stamina; don't worry about that. I cycle every day - it's OK.”
“Life is life. Some of the wisest people you meet are sweeping our streets.”
“Loyalty is about the party and the movement... if you want a better and more effective party, we've got to open ourselves up much more to our membership and our supporters.”
“Mum and Dad met campaigning on the Spanish civil war. Both were active peace campaigners. They died in 1986 and '87.”
“My view is the questions in Parliament should be the questions that people out there want asked.”
“NATO expansion and Russian expansion - one leads to the other, and one reflects the other.”
“Obsession with the market seem to prevent ministers looking at the huge problem and all its ramifications in health, education and employment that come from the housing insecurity that too many face.”
“Our problem in the 2015 general election was that for all the good stuff that was in the Labour manifesto, we were still going to be freezing public sector wages, cutting council expenditure, laying off civil servants. We were offering 'austerity light' instead of a real alternative.”
“Parliament is supposed to be serious. It's not a place for jingoistic cheering.”
“Politically active people felt more and more disenfranchised, particularly during the ultra-New Labour years.”
“Quite simply, I maintained contact with Sinn Fein and believed that there had to be a political, not a military, solution to the situation in Northern Ireland.”
“Riding a bicycle is the summit of human endeavour - an almost neutral environmental effect coupled with the ability to travel substantial distances without disturbing anybody. The bike is the perfect marriage of technology and human energy.”
“Some colleagues have said they would not be very keen on working with me, but I am sure these things were said in the heat of the moment.”
“Sure, I've met with people I don't agree with.”
“Taken slightly historically, the turning point in the E.U. was actually the Single European Act, the Thatcher/Maastricht-era stuff, which was turning the E.U. into very much a market system.”
“The idea that somehow or other you can deal with all the problems in the world by banning a particular religious group from entering the U.S.A. is offensive and absurd.”
“The Parliamentary Labour Party is a crucial and very important part of the Labour party, but it is not the entirety of the Labour Party.”
“The Spanish Civil War, Britain was not involved in it. Going back a bit, there was the naval blockade to stop the slave trade in the 19th century; that was morally just. Shame they didn't bother to abolish slavery at the same time.”
“There are some people who have had no pay rises for a very long time, and, working in highly skilled and highly responsible roles and in the health services and education, they deserve to be properly remunerated.”
“There is a democratic process in the party, and that can be operated at any time. But am I going to resign? No. Of course not. No. No. I will carry on.”
“There is a self interest in voting for a society where there is health care for all, where there's a mental health service for all, where there is education service for all.”
“There is not going to be a peace process unless there is talks involving Israel, Hezbollah and Hamas, and I think everyone knows that.”
“There is nothing wrong with my heart except for wanting a peaceful world.”
“To give everyone a house and garden is very difficult in urban areas.”
“Tony Benn and I were very close, very close friends for 30, 40 years. We talked to each other a great deal, and we were great friends. And I was with him shortly before he died, talking about prospects of the world and prospects for peace. And I'm very sad that he's gone.”
“We are all in the Labour party because we want the Labour party to be a vehicle for social change. There is a thirst for debate in the party, and all those who have joined haven't joined without a purpose.”
“We are developing a media policy which would be about breaking up single ownership of too many sources of information so that we have a multiplicity of sources.”
“We are not doing celebrity, personality, abusive politics - we are doing ideas. This is about hope.”
“We are one of the richest countries in the world, and there is absolutely no reason why anyone should have to live in poverty.”
“We live in a very unequal society.”
“We're not going back anywhere, we're going forward, we're going forward in democracy, we're going forward in participation, we're going forward with ideas.”
“We've got to stand up for what we believe in as a labour movement. And that means the party's membership needs to be even bigger so it becomes a genuinely mass organisation.”
“What I find appalling is the intrusive nature towards my extended family.”
“What I remain opposed to is the idea that David Cameron could go around and give up workers' rights, give up environmental protection, give up a whole load of things that are very important.”
“You can't sustain a high level of intense activity with thousands of people forever. It has to be for a specific objective.”
“You grow your way to prosperity; you don't cut your way to it.”
“You pay more in wages, get more in in tax, you get people living a higher standard, you get more money. It's a kind of circle.”