I want a Labour Party that is more democratic, more open and listens to its members.

I was a postman one Christmas and I developed a morbid fear of dogs.

Gun crime is a major cause of fear and distress throughout the UK. The problem is deeply entrenched in a wide range of social and cultural factors and therefore not an isolated issue.

White people love playing 'divide & rule'. We should not play their game.

Being an MP is a good job, the sort of job all working-class parents want for their children -- clean, indoors and no heavy lifting. What could be nicer?

Outsiders often have an insight that an insider doesn't quite have.

I'm a West Indian mum and West Indian mums will go to the wall for their children.

I'm not the only Labour MP who sent their child to public school but I'm the only one who's questioned about it.

My forebears refused to cut the sugar cane for plantation owners, and I am recognisably a product of that background.

When fast food is not a treat but a dietary staple, the children surf the internet all day in dark corners of the room and are bombarded with latest gadgets. Things replace parental standards.

It is time Britain put its trust back into the Labour Party. I believe I am the candidate that can make this happen precisely because I am not associated with the past.

Some increase happens within us and are not seen by the outside world

Reality blithely ignores the lies we tell ourselves about it.

A hungry dog believes in nothing but meat.

We'd be trying to touch the sky from the bottom of the ocean. I realize that if we boosted one another, maybe we'd get a little closer.

Mediocrity is the worst enemy of prosperity.

I'm a morning person: if I don't get up, put the coffee on and get to my desk by 8, the day has already lost a lot of its promise.

All creative activity begins with movement.

Writing the last page of the first draft is the most enjoyable moment in writing. It's one of the most enjoyable moments in life, period.

I never thought of myself as being in the avant-garde. I said what I had to say, as I was able to say it.

You cannot, sir, take from me any thing that I will more willingly part withal: except my life, except my life, except my life.