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" Being an MP is not a desperately hard life, like going down the pit or working in the steelworks - with which I am all too familiar, having been brought up in the city of Sheffield; and it certainly isn't badly paid compared with any of my constituents. "

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" I believe Britishness is defined not on ethnic and exclusive grounds but through shared values; our history of tolerance, openness and internationalism; and our commitment to democracy and liberty, to civic duty and the public space. "

David Blunkett

Commitment

Space

History

" Nothing is more important for young people than enhancing their life chances, liberating their potential and encouraging their contribution to a globally competitive and modern economy. "

David Blunkett

People

Potential

" I have never tried to fiddle my role as leader of the city of Sheffield, as an MP or as a minister. "

" It is certainly true that as we grow older, our need for healthcare also grows. It is also true that those who have lived their lives in the most difficult circumstances and experienced the most exhausting and challenging work places need healthcare the most. "

" If you don't create a sense of order and stability, if people do not feel secure, then progressive politics is dead. That is a fact of history. The right has always emerged supreme when destabilisation and insecurity prevail. "

" I was affected by the harshness of government, the reality of 16-hour days, and the pressures of modern communications. "

" Without the political parties and the volunteering work of their members day in, day out, we would have a very different sort of politics and society. "

" I love the walk although my security team weren't too sure to begin with but I was anxious to be able to lead a near normal life. Whilst walking I do get the chance to meet people and keep in touch. "

" My integrity had been called into question; I was being called a liar, and I am not a liar. And I just think it is time that we stop viewing public figures as fair game. "

" Throughout my political life, I've not been a stranger to controversy. "

" Speaking for the nation as a whole entails understanding and feeling the pain, as well as understanding the aspiration of the different cultural, social and political make-up of the nation. "

" It is a mistake to separate learning for work and for community and personal development. "

" To make sense of a world in which rapid change and globalisation create genuine insecurity, we need benchmarks by which we can judge our actions and their long-term impact. "

" What is it that unites, on the left of British politics, George Orwell, Billy Bragg, Gordon Brown and myself? An understanding that identity and a sense of belonging need to be linked to our commitment to nationhood and a modern form of patriotism. "

" Reciprocity helps us balance the need for self-determination and creative individuality with mutual hope and, therefore, what might be described as 'solidarity.' "

David Blunkett

Balance

Need

" There are some really good experiments with the youth offending service, joining up youth offending teams with the youth justice board, and good local authority and primary care trusts working together. "

" In today's world, learning has become the key to economic prosperity, social cohesion and personal fulfillment. We can no longer afford to educate the few to think, and the many to do. "

" Human nature is you get carried away, so we have to protect ourselves from ourselves. "

" Faith in technocrats over politicians is not a trend from which Britain is exempt. "

" I'm convinced that quite a lot of young people, when they get in trouble with the law, it's a cry for help there. Because it's not that they go out to offend. It's that their behaviour is self-parading, it's the big 'I'. And sometimes that means they're really lacking in confidence. "

David Blunkett

Law

Cry

" Changes to parliamentary procedure won't transform the lives of the people whom I represent. Decentralising, devolving decision-making and renewing civil society will. "

" I don't think anyone can say I have said one thing in public and done another in private. "

" I've been fortunate when in government to have a car at my disposal, which takes away the nightmare of getting a taxi. "

" With the commissioning of new schools undertaken by a local director of school standards, decisions will be fair and transparent, rooted in the needs of the local community. The admissions code and the role of the adjudicator will also be strengthened to provide fairness for all children. "

" The government must give men and women without power a real say over what happens to them, and the means of engaging in a participative, invigorated and living democracy. "

" In government, you are pressed by the security agencies. They come to you with very good information, and they say, 'You need to do something.' So you do need the breath of scepticism, not cynicism, breathing on them. "

" I said it's impossible to have an amnesty without ID cards and a clean database, because you firstly don't have any incentives for people to actually come up front and register, and make themselves available, and secondly you have no means of tracking them. "

David Blunkett

Cards

You

" In the U.K., we have always been an open, trading nation, enriched by our global links. Contemporary patterns of migration extend this tradition. "

" The government wants to be able to attack extremism and hatred wherever it occurs. "

" We must draw on our early roots and remind people why the Labour party was created and who it sought to represent. We have never been a sectional party promoting self-interest, but instead a force for engaging self-reliance and self-determination. "