Much of the shadow banking sector, a major contributor to the economic crisis, was also only possible because of taxhaven secrecy.

Investment banking has, in recent years, resembled a casino, and the massive scale of gambling losses has dragged down traditional activities as banks try to rebuild their balance sheets.

Our workforce is very co-operative, very flexible, easy to work with and one of the big selling points. The idea that Britain is still back in the labour market of the '70s is utterly bizarre.

The government increasingly resembles somebody who is trying to give the kiss of life to a corpse.

And humility in politics means accepting that one party doesn't have all the answers; recognising that working in partnership is progress not treachery.

The degree of leverage now being reversed is on a staggering scale, and the underlying global imbalances – notably between the savers and the spenders – will require long and painful adjustment.

I made friends with a boy who was a communist when I was 13 and that broadened my political views, but it also brought me into conflict with my father who was very Right-wing.

If the pendulum swings, it may swing to a combination of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats and, thus, to a period of minority government or coalition, in some form.

When I was a child we were sufficiently well off for me to be a picky eater and I still cannot eat vegetables cooked in the traditional British manner.

I don't feel comfortable with luxury, and I try to stay fairly normal.

The House has noticed the Prime Minister's remarkable transformation in the past few weeks, from Stalin to Mr. Bean.

Failure is The Way of Success

...she made her home in between the pages of books.

If he says he doesn't love you anymore and does love this other woman, you've got to accept it. Maybe he will come back, maybe he won't, but either way, you've got to live through this.

Every man, who desires to become a true father, has to look continually to the Lord, that he might learn of Him how to relate to his own children

In success there's a tendency to keep on doing what you were doing.

There's nothing people like better than being asked an easy question. For some reason, we're flattered when a stranger asks us where Maple Street is in our hometown and we can tell him.

When no one is looking, I swallow deserts and clouds and chew on mountains knowing they are sweet bones! When no one is looking and I want to kiss God, I just lift my own hand to my mouth.

I know what it's like to be shoveling to pay bills. I know what it's like to not have a job.

How fugitive and brief is mortal life between the budding and the falling leaf.

By the time we leave, I have red lips and curled eyelashes, and I’m wearing a bright red dress. And there’s a knife strapped to the inside of my knee. This all makes perfect sense.