I've spent my whole life fighting for leftwing causes, so I can tell you, no one is more surprised than me to be standing as candidate for Nigel Farage's Brexit party.

TV and radio debates seem inflamed, with all that shouting, but real disagreement is always avoided; they conceal their lack of content.

Public discourse degenerated. There's no longer a place for intelligent debate at universities, where people just work for degrees and careers. My own experience was how my trade union's lively branch debates dwindled to a few people round cups of coffee. There's a climate of people frightened to say what they think for fear of offending someone.

Sometimes, we just take too much glee in the downfall of people in power.

The notion that one's home is one's castle and you can pull up the drawbridge is not one that people in public policy circles believe in.

The idea of a private life has been eroded in the sphere of politics.

I want politicians to be held to account for their politics and their principles, or lack of them, but I find it irritating that we have a culture where people are more interested in trivial gossip than substantive matters.

I don't want to be complacent.

Often I go to book festivals and they just turn authors into celebrities.'

There's a palpable frustration with the assumption that everyone who's under the age of 25 has got the attention span of a gnat and isn't interested in events and ideas.

There has been far too much of journalists deciding they are on the side of something and going out to get the story, instead of truth seeking which is a different thing.

I think the idea of journalists being neutral is very important.

One of the great things about journalism, at its best I mean, is its forensic, investigative truth seeking instincts.

We've lost a lot of regard for straight forward news stories, and that has then been supplemented by comment, not even analysis, which has created a lot of celebrity journalists.

An ever-widening definition of abuse can incite a culture of fear and complaint: encouraging teachers and girls to name and shame could mean labelling sexually awkward teenage boys as sex pests.

If a boy pings a girl's bra it may be unpleasant and annoying, but is it really assault?

Children are more restricted than ever when it comes to taking physical risks - one of the ways previous generations built resilience. Thanks to health and safety mania, leapfrog, marbles and conkers are now considered unsafe.

We tell children their wellbeing is paramount, but we are also guilty of mollycoddling them. There's a constant emphasis on their vulnerability, which is proving toxic.

We need a younger generation that's prepared to grow a backbone, go out into the world, take risks and make difficult decisions. Otherwise the future doesn't bode well for any of us.

There is a strand of self-absorption and fragility running through this generation; all too ready to cry 'victim' at the first hint of a situation they don't like.

If you are a young, white, straight man in today's society, you are in trouble.

I think the influence of contemporary feminism has been very unhelpful to the current generation of girls. They are constantly being encouraged to speak out about how they feel victimised.

We have all had to deal with cruel remarks from other children, and it has made us stronger as a result. But today every minor slight is analysed to determine whether or not it is racist, sexist, homophobic and so on.

Yes, we know that obesity is an issue, but it isn't the end of the world as is reported everywhere.