Obstacles to trade put up the cost both to consumers and businesses.

Tony Blair adopted the accent of the audience he was speaking to, which worked very well initially, but then voters began to perceive him as phoney. The 'man of the people' act is the height of condescension.

In England and, later, the United Kingdom, Habeas Corpus is a right of great antiquity: Anyone who is arrested must be brought before a court, but this does not apply in continental countries.

I'm of the opinion that one of the perks of being in Parliament is not having to do the school run.

Perhaps one day the world will end, giving the last group to predict it the satisfaction of being right - but as many have been wrong so far, it does not seem wise to make public policy on the back of these fears.

No one questions the right of individuals to go to the Central Lobby to explain their views to their own Member of Parliament. It is important for those in power to hear arguments in favour of policies from all sides and ought to lead to better decision-making.

Subsidising inefficient businesses does not encourage them to become more competitive and means that extra money has to be taken from tax payers for the same result. Inevitably, this reduces the total size of the economy and lowers living standards.

Mark Carney is one of the enemies of Brexit. He has opposed it consistently.

Eschatological fears are an ancient human concern. The Romans expected the world to end in 634 B.C. owing to a prophecy involving twelve eagles, while the early Christians anticipated the Final Judgment in their own lifetimes. Pope Sylvester II thought A.D. 1000 would be the last year, a view updated for the modern age by the Millennium bug.

The BBC always wants to blame things on Brexit. I'm not saying this is a conspiracy: I'm saying it is a fact of life.

Zero-hours contracts are a low proportion of the workforce; they provide a route into employment and flexibility for staff. They benefit business, consumers, and taxpayers by keeping costs down, and they boost productivity, allowing the efficient use of labour.

Sometimes 'sin' taxes are useful not because of their perceived health benefits but because they are effectively a form of voluntary taxation which tends to arouse less irritation than other taxes.

I very much like potatoes.

If people ignore the rules already, new regulations are not likely to deter them.

I've made no pretence to be a modern man at all, ever.

Free Trade puts consumers at the centre of economic activity. It lowers the cost of imports, which gives people the opportunity to buy more with the same amount of money: domestic producers have to compete with the lowest global costs or invest in new business.

Lobbying has become a term of reproach, as if it were improper to push for a particular belief. This has happened because of paid lobbyists whose opinions are for hire and the fear that decision-makers, whether politicians or officials, are susceptible to their charms and wiles. This has tarred entirely proper lobbying with the same brush.

I would almost certainly vote for Trump if I was American.

You've got to judge people, ultimately, by their actions rather than their words.

When Margaret Thatcher was leader, she and Michael Heseltine were hardly soulmates, but she would not have allowed personal rivalry to take the heat off the Labour Party, whose own deep internal divisions are buried in other news now, nor would she have countenanced any attempt to have a show trial.

A constitutional monarchy requires the monarch to be above politics but to be fully informed about politics.

In the U.S., free speech and the press are protected by the First Amendment. It has a clarity unmatched by modern legislators and declares that 'Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech, or the press.'

When you empower and teach a teacher how to break down barriers, bring innovation and excitement to the classroom, every student in that classroom learns.

I want kids, young women, young girls especially, who oftentimes by junior high they think they can't do math or science... I want them to know that it's creative, it's problem solving, and it's for everyone.