Locking people up without reducing the risk of them committing new crimes against new victims the minute they get out does not make for intelligent sentencing.
Kenneth Clarke
Margaret was the best prime minister of my lifetime. Mythology has turned Thatcher into someone regarded either as a goddess by her supporters or an evil witch by her opponents.
Britain's political voice depends on our role as a leading and influential member of the E.U. If we leave, we are of less value to our allies and of less concern to our enemies. We need the strongest voice we can get in the dangerous modern world.
Of course I'd have loved to be Prime Minister. But I'm not nursing a grievance.
Politicians should inspire you to vote, they should appeal to people.
However, we do not lack anti-terrorist laws. I do not believe that the recent London bombs were the result of any deficiencies in our legal system.
Having everybody voting to avoid a £25 fine is no way to solve public apathy.
If the prime minister really believes it, he must be the only person left who thinks that the recent bombs in London had no connection at all with his policy in Iraq.
I cannot remember a time in opposition - I am talking about the last four years - when we have done less work on policy and more on slogans. But because of my European views I wasn't allowed to participate.
It would be immoral to walk away from the consequences of our actions, leaving behind anarchy and civil war in Iraq.
Energetic action on debt would make a radical difference to the prospects of many of the poorest countries in the world, at no practical cost to creditor countries.
I am sorry to upset my colleagues by saying we wasted four years in opposition, but if you do get so badly defeated as a party you do have to face up to some painful facts and you do have to change.
I am getting frustrated by the fact that we have been out of office for eight years. I desperately want to lead the Conservative Party to make quicker progress back into power.
I don't think at my age... you can start ruling people out in politics.
My sense is that the majority of Conservatives share my reservations about how we got into Iraq.
The Blair government has lowered the standing of politics and politicians in our country.
The political health of Britain has deteriorated very sharply. The Conservative Party must do something about it. I am the man to do it.
Access to justice is a fundamental part of a properly functioning democracy.
Without legal aid, and the dedicated lawyers who deliver it, our system of justice would quite simply collapse.
I am a firm believer in open justice, and an opponent of closed justice in any normal circumstances. But I am also an opponent of legal purism, and have no time for institutionalised mythmaking - whether from the authoritarian right or the liberal left.
I am a stalwart supporter of the British judiciary who are the best in the world.
No country anywhere in the world allows material that genuinely puts national security at risk into the public domain, and that includes a courtroom.
Trade deals are not the vehicle for raising or lowering standards of protection for consumers, the environment, workers or anyone else. Regulations are made by governments and parliaments.
I am not a creature of giant business and I think that small- and medium-sized businesses will derive the most benefit from the removal of bureaucratic obstacles to trade.
Only an ideologue deals with the world as he would wish it to be, as opposed to the world as it is.
Unless and until I can see an opportunity of actually reversing Brexit and restoring a stable membership of the European Union, then in the real world I concentrate on minimising the damage.
Referendums are designed to get round parliamentary government, and people only demand referendums when they think they can't get a majority in parliament. Mussolini was the most brilliant practitioner of referendums.
My entire political career has been based on building up Britain's political standing and economic prosperity through our membership of the E.U. and the European project.
Margaret Thatcher and John Major knew that bluff and bravado doesn't work in Brussels.
For those who want out, Brexit remains an end in itself, regardless of what is in the interest of our society, in terms of prosperity, security and influence on the wider world stage.
Jonathan Hill is an old friend of mine; I have worked with him for many years and know him to be a man of outstanding ability who has never sought a public profile.
When E.U. governments are able to agree on political and economic policies, they will remain a superpower to influence the Americans, the Russians, Indians and Chinese over the coming decades. Britain on its own would resume the decline which continued through most of the 20th century.
Nigel Farage has persuaded too many people that we have lost control of our borders.
Whether we remain in the European Union will determine Britain's future role in the world and the comparative success of our economy for our children and grandchildren.
Thatcher was the best politician I have ever witnessed.
All political careers are a rollercoaster.
I'm notorious for only using my mobile phone for outgoing calls: nobody knows my London number and I certainly don't do anything online.
