We have what we call 'fake left' politicians, like Ed Miliband and those who went before him.

Film is one small voice in a great cacophony of noise from newspapers, from the television, from social media, so it can have a little dent, you know? It can help to create a climate of opinion.

You'll get unsociable people whatever the nationality, colour, race or creed. I guess the British abroad have probably got the worst record of anyone.

The BBC is very aware of its role in shaping people's consciousness… it's manipulative and deeply political.

My mum was a peacemaker, and in personal things I tend to do that, because I can't deal with personal conflict. I find that horrible.

Iain Duncan Smith and his regime, they wanted to make the poor suffer and then humiliated them by telling them that their poverty was their own fault and, to demonstrate that, if you're not up to mark then you're sanctioned and the money stops.

I've been going to Labour party meeting for over 50 years.

There's a heresy which is perpetuated by film school that to be a great director you have to write your own stuff.

Preparation is really important for actors; they need to know who they are, where they're from, and the experiences up to the point that we make the film.

Those in power always try to distort reality, to suit their needs and keep things safe.

Surprise is something that's very difficult to act.

Every four or five films we've made a film that has gone on TV first. It's quite nice to tap into the TV audience, but it is nice to see it on the big screen too.

The worst thing about being a freelance film director is that you're scrambling around Soho with a briefcase, looking for somewhere to make phone calls. That was my position for 10 years.

If all political parties are committed to the role of the free market, the politicians act as, I don't know, as traffic policemen; they stand outside the ring and let the real decisions be slugged out by entrepreneurs. That doesn't seem to me a proper democracy.

What strikes me - we're apparently at the mercy of an economic system that will never work and the big question is, how do we change it, not how do we put up with it.

The Holocaust is as real a historical event as World War II itself and not to be challenged.

The old Craven Cottage stadium at Fulham, before they built the river stand; that was a great place to watch football. When the football wasn't very good, people used to turn around and watch the boats on the river.

I think the Norweigan model of municipalities owning cinemas and being programmed by people who know about films is a good one.

The thing is, it's much easier to be a rightwing populist than a leftwing one, because the left always have to explain why things are the way they are. The right can just blame the foreigners.

People talk about Thatcherism all the time. I felt it was important to record the memories of those almost written out of history who upheld the spirit of '45.

It's time to put back on the agenda the importance of public ownership and public good, the value of working together collaboratively, not in competition.

If you have a society where a large section believe they are not part of the political discourse, that is a situation for trouble.

The Labour election of 1945 was a tremendous victory for democratic ownership of the economy.

I'm not a great fan of very short films.

There are different cinema traditions in France, Spain and other European countries. There's a much stronger intellectual tradition: cinema is seen in a more serious way.

After 'The Gamekeeper' I made one other film called 'Looks and Smiles,' but making British films was very difficult. There wasn't a tradition of British cinema.

There's so much control, so many executive producers, so many people looking over their shoulder, so many people trying to second-guess the boss. The space for writers and directors and actors to be creative is zilch.

I think you find amongst ordinary people there are a lot of people that are really talented.

When you're at the wrong end of your 70s, everything is a challenge.

The E.U. is an economically right-wing organization that prioritizes the interests of big corporations.

I think that cinema is medium of communication. It's as valid as novels or fine art.

In the 1980s, I had a lot of films, documentaries for television, which were about why the trade unions had failed to organize resistance to Margaret Thatcher's plans. And they were banned. I had to fight for those films.

There's no great desire to own lots of stuff - and I don't. You can only live in one house and drive one car.

Anti-Semitism is a form of racism, and all forms of racism are horrible.

I try to avoid mirrors.

It would be exciting to take part in what we now call the Enlightenment at the end of the 18th century, but with modern dentistry.

Eric Cantona is a giggler.

People who are deaf or hard of hearing need all the support we can give them.

Oh, I don't like labels.

I think cinema is taken a bit more seriously in France.

If you think back to the great French directors it's difficult to think of British film-makers who are comparable.

Don't take advice. You have to make up your own mind what to do from the beginning.

Politics lives in people, ideas live in people, they live in the concrete struggles that people have.

How families interact is not some abstract concept of mother, son, father, daughter; it has to do with economic circumstances, the work they do, the time they can spend with each other.

A TV series is a long commitment.

When you get older you do one film at a time.

I wasn't from a political family. Nobody talked politics.

Ordinary people can be very articulate and very eloquent.

My father worked in a factory and as a child it felt very secure. It felt very secure because everybody had work, the schools were free, so there was a security of knowing that the war had finished and families would come together again.

I'm not a great cinema-goer.