David Blunkett Quotes

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.

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.

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

Strengthening our identity is one way of reinforcing people's confidence and sense of citizenship and well-being.

When I'm in London I do have the convenience of being close to St James Park which is also good for me because it gives me an excuse to get out and get some much needed exercise!

We've got to get back to old-fashioned politics that's in touch with the people we seek to represent and to avoid self-inflicted wounds.

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.'

Balancing the common good with the freedom and liberty to exercise that individuality has been and remains a challenge for those committed to democracy while understanding that the polis ensures our participation and therefore our citizenship.

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

It is feasible for someone who comes from a privileged background to understand the privilege they have had and to use the formal political arena in a way that would disperse power and engage with people in their own lives.

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

I am not a parliamentarian. I am a politician. Some MPs leave and are itching to get back. I don't feel that. This is just a work environment.

Parents don't believe that lifting life-chances in one school means reducing them in another.

That is why with enormous regret I have tendered my resignation to the prime minister today.

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

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

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.

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.

Crucially, I'd like to thank Labour party members up and down the country for sticking with us. For their active citizenship, their willingness to engage in our democracy, and for being there at the cutting edge of making our democracy work.

Being a Labour home secretary in the 21st century means fighting a constant battle against both extreme Right and Left.

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.

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

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.

I'm in favour of a sensible development of response units and their deployment in any circumstance where there may be a risk to the officers themselves or the neighbourhood they're in. I'm not in favour of a blanket arming of the police.

When I first came into parliament, there was, on average, a by-election every three months - due not to MPs bailing out, but because of the death rate.

History teaches us that, whatever we say, racists will always distort the words of mainstream politicians to make themselves sound more respectable.

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.

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

Being home secretary involves having to face some of the worst of human behaviour and challenges of modern society.

I grew up in one of the most deprived parts of Britain. I know the problems which inner-city children face.

It's not just parliament that requires radical modernisation. It's our democratic processes.

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.

I should have been a Trappist monk.

For six and a half years, I had responsibility for leading the Labour party policy on education and delivering on our promise of improved opportunities for all our children.

The Home Office culture was one of being just above the problem, of hovering just out of reach of knowing what was going on on the ground, whether it was crime or immigration.

And we think that our citizens and yours would be very angry if they thought that we hadn't taken every possible step for prevention and then for joint action in the likelihood of those who threaten our lives and our well- being, taking action at the same time.

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

Solidarity and interdependence, a sense of worth, a pride and hope in the future: these are positive gains for those who believe in progressive politics and the beneficial role of government, rather than a detriment.

Judy, we think that since the 11th of September, 2001, we've faced a similar heightened threat level. And we've been enhancing both the exchange of intelligence and security information and the assessment of that information, because that's the crucial element.

Businesses that fail to develop their staff are twice as likely to collapse. Firms seeking to reposition themselves for the economic upturn need to invest in their staff's flexibility, responsiveness and skills.

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

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.

At this very moment in time there will be people making, breaking relationships, regretting deeply what they've done, and causing hurt, but that is a fact of life, and if we weren't full of emotion, we'd be automatons, and I don't think people want us to be that.

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.

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

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.

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 don't like prolonged, highly expensive commissions, especially if they are chaired by judges. We seem to have overwhelming faith in judges.

I can hear people smile.

I didn't come into politics to have to deal with the issue of clandestine entry, illegal working, or an asylum system that allows a free run for right-wing bigots.

If, in the name of liberty, we allow individuals to act in a way that damages the wellbeing of the whole, it will inevitably mean the breakdown of mutuality, thereby changing the very nature of our society.

I must have been a failed football coach in a previous incarnation.

I have always been honest about my recollection of events.

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.

I've had a guide dog since 1969. Not the same one, of course: I've had five.

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.

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

At school, I was brought up on revolting food - sausages, sausages and Spam - but at home, I had the most wonderful sponge puddings, which I don't indulge in very often now.

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.

We have put over £2bn in the last three years into counter-terrorism and we are developing the electronic border surveillance and identity cards

We need to use all the resources at our disposal in order to prosper. We need more employment, and we need employment to be spread more fairly across society.

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.

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.

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.

In an ageing society, it makes sense to support older adults to develop new skills, prolonging their working lives.

Bishops and judges are some of the best politicians in the world. They know how to manipulate the political process.

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.