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" Despite being in public life, I value my own privacy immensely and would be as concerned as anyone else if I thought my mobile phone records could be easily available to officials across government. "

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

David Blunkett

Abuse

Rights

Destroy

" I should have been a Trappist monk. "

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

" I have built my reputation on honesty, I have sometimes been too honest. "

" We need to build on what we know works - local oversight of schools to keep a check on performance, timely interventions in schools to support those at risk of failing, and partnerships between schools to help each one to improve. "

" Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling, in hosting the G20 summit and in the budget, must display the same boldness in tackling the instability at home that they do in promoting a worldwide answer to the global meltdown. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" It would be dangerous territory if I wasn't practising what I preach which is to always accept responsibility, always accept the consequences of your actions. "

David Blunkett

Responsibility

Consequences

" 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. "

" To punish MPs because of the distance they live from London - those with fast train journeys quite close to London as well as those at some distance from both the capital or an appropriate airport - is perverse, but also dangerous to democracy. "

" If I pleaded guilty to a mistake while I was home secretary, it wasn't that I didn't get tough - my God, I put immigration and security officials on French soil for the first time. "

" 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 job as Labour Home Secretary is to ensure people are prepared to listen to us when we take on our opponents across the political spectrum. "

David Blunkett

People

Political

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

" Children whose parents return to study do much better at school. Offenders who persist with studies are much less likely to reoffend. The national mental health strategy recognises the important role adult learning can play for people recovering from mental illness. "

" 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. "

" Let's not allow the voice of the people to be overwhelmed by the siren song of those who opposed regulation, who demanded that government should stand aside and let finance and business run the show. "

" 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 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. "

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

" I am nothing if not a loyalist. After 46 years in the Labour party, I've grown weary of the cry: 'If only we had a new, shining, revamped leader, all would be well.' "

" We must look to an open, tolerant, inclusive England, which embraces the values of a Britain that still leads the world in terms of an open democracy, as well as an understanding of the needs for responsibilities and obligations to run alongside the affirmation of individual rights. "

" 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. "

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

" Where asylum is used as a route to economic migration, it can cause deep resentment in the host community. "

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

" 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. "

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

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