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" By confirming the importance of politics and politicians in Britain, we can build from the bottom up and begin to reverse the worrying anti-politics trend, which will empower the elite technocrats and leave defenceless the man or woman in the street with a mere vote to cast. "

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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

" Politics is about the participation and engagement of the wider citizenry - to miss that point would doom us to irrelevance. "

David Blunkett

Point

Miss

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

" We need dynamic and thriving businesses and a skilled and adaptable labour force to produce competitiveness and prosperity. "

" 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. "

" As education and employment secretary in 1997, I inherited hundreds of schools where the roofs leaked, the windows rattled, and they relied entirely on outside toilets. "

" 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. "

" We have a media that presents every politician as being as bad as the next. There is no distinguishing between one good idea or another; no explanation of why constitutional change should be uppermost in the minds of the people I represent. "

" Yes, it will go through the disciplines that all puppies go through including house training and puppy walking, then at twelve month old it the training becomes a lot more rigorous which has to be done carefully otherwise you are in danger of stressing the dog. "

" As home secretary, I gained a reputation for being 'tough'; less concerned with liberty than with public protection. "

" The clash between capital and labour, between those seeking to maximise profit and those with only their toil to sell, was the driving force for the creation of the trade unions in the 19th century. "

" In primary schools, I set two main objectives - to cut infant class sizes and improve literacy and numeracy. "

" People from all over the world were killed in the attacks on the World Trade Centre. They came from many different cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu believers were killed together as they worked in the towers. "

" I did not in late November start the plethora of linking my private life with public events again. "

" I prefer a positive view of freedom, drawing on another tradition of political thinking that goes all the way back to the ancient Greek polis. "

" But any perception of this application being speeded up requires me to take responsibility. "

David Blunkett

Perception

" 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. "

" Politics is only worthwhile if you are doing what you believe, regardless of the slings and arrows. "

" We need a government which, yes, guarantees basic standards in public services, but which also steps in to protect people's wellbeing as they take part in our consumer democracy - particularly online. "

" I am totally in favour of reform - but it must be reform that changes the nature of British politics, not simply the makeup or operation of parliament. "

" 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. "

" Back in 2003, when I was home secretary, I introduced the victim surcharge on offenders to substantially expand the support available and, I hoped, the protection of witnesses who were brave enough to come forward. "

" The democratic state can sometimes abuse its power as much as those who seek to destroy it abuse fundamental rights and democratic practices. "

" 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. "

" In Sheffield, we need support from the community and for the community. We need integration with no loss of heritage, and a clear appreciation of what is and is not acceptable. "

" I'm as keen as the next person to preserve the right to free speech. "

" 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

" We need to reaffirm that politics is not merely compatible with economic progress and development in the 21st century, but essential to it. "

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

" 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. "