Gordon Brown Quotes

I don't believe that any prime minister would send our troops into conflict without the assurance from the military that they had the equipment necessary for the operation. ~ Gordon Brown

I believe there is a moral sense and a global ethic that commands attention from people of every religion and every faith, and people of no faith. But I think what's new is that we now have the capacity to communicate instantaneously across frontiers right across the world. ~ Gordon Brown

The motto of the old order in the City of London was, 'My word is my bond,' but the financial crisis revealed a culture quite alien to that heritage. The stewards of people's money were revealed to have been speculators with it. ~ Gordon Brown

Britain must lead in Europe to intensify the fight against global terrorism and make our country safer. ~ Gordon Brown

Our mission is, in truth, historic and world changing - to build, over the next fifty years and beyond, a global low carbon economy. And it is not overdramatic to say that the character and course of the coming century will be set by how we measure up to this challenge ~ Gordon Brown

I have been fascinated by men and women of courage. People who took brave decisions in the service of great causes especially when more comfortable and far less dangerous alternatives were open to them ~ Gordon Brown

Turing was a quite brilliant mathematician, most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes. It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of the Second World War could have been very different. ~ Gordon Brown

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

We must then build a proper relationship between the richest and the poorest countries based on our desire that they are able to fend for themselves with the investment that is necessary in their agriculture, so that Africa is not a net importer of food, but an exporter of food. ~ Gordon Brown

Do you think George Bush actually knows who Gordon Brown is? He probably just thinks Tony Blair's put on weight and had a mild stroke. ~ Frankie Boyle

Jubilee 2000 is a broad coalition which has moved the earth. ~ Gordon Brown

We should demonstrate that in war, under Churchill and Lloyd George, and in peace, Britain always was, already is, and can continue to be a leader. ~ Gordon Brown

I love Scotland; I love the NHS. I was born into the NHS; I grew up in the NHS. My family grew up in the NHS. ~ Gordon Brown

We need quantitative assessments of the success of education. We need certification and qualifications both for teachers and for pupils. It is not a choice between quantity and quality, between access and excellence. Both of these will happen together if people really do believe in the importance of education to change lives. ~ Gordon Brown

In every era, there are only one or two moments when nations come together and reach agreements that make history, because they change the course of history. ~ Gordon Brown

I'm a great supporter of the European Union. I didn't support entry to the Euro, not because I'm against it in principle but because I didn't think it was economically right for Britain. But that doesn't make me any less pro-European. ~ Gordon Brown

56,000 companies have already benefited from the schemes that we have brought in. If we have taken the advice of the Conservative Party, no money would have been used. As Barack Obama said only yesterday, doing nothing is not an option. ~ Gordon Brown

Our equality bill is specifically designed to protect religion and belief on exactly the same terms as race or gender or sexuality. ~ Gordon Brown

The next election will be a flyweight versus a heavyweight. However much the right hon. Gentleman (David Cameron) may dance around the ring beforehand, at some point, he will come within the reach of a big clunking fist. ~ Gordon Brown

On this day I remember words that have stayed with me since my childhood and which matter a great deal to me today, my school motto: "I will try my outmost". This is my promise to all of the people of Britain and now let the work of change begin. ~ Gordon Brown

People believe in the power of education to change lives. ~ Gordon Brown

Good strong banks are essential for every family and for every business in the country and extraordinary times call for the bold and far-reaching solutions that the Treasury has announced today. ~ Gordon Brown

I am not going to the House of Lords. Never. That's not who I am. That's not where I am. ~ Gordon Brown

When something really matters, you should never give up or give in. ~ Gordon Brown

The world needs to face up to the challenge of climate change, and to do so now. It is clear that climate change poses an urgent challenge, not only a challenge that threatens the environment but also international peace and security, prosperity and development. And as the Stern report showed, the economic effects of climate change on this scale cannot be ignored, but the costs can be limited if we act early ~ Gordon Brown

Britain can be proud of its response to the tsunami appeal. ~ Gordon Brown

Our common realm is not and cannot be stripped of values - I absolutely reject the idea that religion should somehow be tolerated but not encouraged in public life. ~ Gordon Brown

I don't see politics as one or two people just making or delivering announcements - it's also about winning public support and the public enthusiasm. You've got to win public support. ~ Gordon Brown

Yes is the answer to that question. I've enjoyed being in government ... if it would be useful for me to serve I would like to do that. [saying he would like to work for Gordon Brown despite his previous opinions of him!] ~ Charles Clarke

The way forward is for governments to consciously pursue monetary and fiscal stability through setting clear objectives, establishing proper rules, and requiring openness and transparency - the new rules of the game. ~ Gordon Brown

I remember talking to Alex Ferguson about Tony [Blair] and Gordon [Brown], and he said: "Why doesn't Tony just get rid of him?" But if you sack someone in football, they can't turn up to training the next day. In politics they're still on the pitch. Gordon would still have been a big player. ~ Alastair Campbell

There are 101 websites out there for debate - this was a blatant last attempt to get someone to stand against Gordon Brown. ~ Diane Abbott

When people criticise you, you've got to listen to that criticism, and to learn from it, which I've tried to do. ~ Gordon Brown

Let us think of ourselves not as 'yes' and 'no' Scots but simply as Scots, and let us be a nation, united again. ~ Gordon Brown

I hope the Spice Girls will come back, although it may be beyond even Bob Geldof to get that to happen. ~ Gordon Brown

What is happened in the years since the Second World War is not a temporary truce. It is not simply a ceasefire. Instead of battling with weapons and armaments, people battle only with arguments and ideas. ~ Gordon Brown

Just as the England football manager starts with bells and flags and balloons and ends up reviled, so do prime ministers. Tony Blair - is there anyone more despised now? Gordon Brown - all right, nobody voted for him but, you know ... just think of any of them. Margaret Thatcher. John Major. Steve McLaren. Fabio Capello. ~ Terry Wogan

I am happy for there to be a leadership contest. I think there should be ~ Gordon Brown

America knows it has got to deal with its deficit problems so that it, too, can promise it is making its proper and best contributions to the world economy. ~ Gordon Brown

Our new economic approach is rooted in ideas which stress the importance of macro-economics, post neo-classical endogenous growth theory and the symbiotic relationships between growth and investment, and people and infrastructure. ~ Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown now bestrides politics and the media like the Colossus of Dunfermline. Whatever happened to Tony Blair? ~ Austin Mitchell

It is time to train British workers for the British jobs that will be available over the coming few years and to make sure that people who are inactive and unemployed are able to get the new jobs on offer in our country. ~ Gordon Brown

Britain does not want a return to boom and bust. ~ Gordon Brown

Most people understand that Lehman Brothers didn't collapse because Gordon Brown built too many schools and hospitals. ~ Douglas Alexander

The IIFA Weekend has my unprecedented support. The relationship between India and the UK is long standing and one we would like to keep developing forever. ~ Gordon Brown

Our ability to connect as a nation with other nations around the world is enhanced dramatically by the Internet. ~ Gordon Brown

Under this Government, Britain will not return to the boom and bust of the past. ~ Gordon Brown

The place of cycling in our society is set to grow, and I am committed to doing everything possible to encourage that. ~ Gordon Brown

To my astonishment, everything that I had assumed was now questioned by the findings. What started off as a search for identity that appeared to be purely Scottish in origin ended up as a discovery of my migrant roots - indeed an understanding that almost all of our families, at some stage, have been migrants - and my European roots. ~ Gordon Brown

There's no point dwelling on the worst things people have said - there's a job to do. ~ Gordon Brown

Many of our problems are home-grown. Gordon Brown regularly advised the rest of the world to follow his British model of growth. But the model was flawed. It led to the highest level of household debt in relation to income in the world. ~ Vince Cable

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown committed to John Major's spending envelopes in 1997. No-one said that Tony Blair and John Major were identical. This happens quite often that parties actually, despite all the sound and fury, agree on the overall need to make sure that we live within our means as a country. ~ Nick Clegg

Politics seems much less important today. When you see your young daughter smiling as she was, and moving around, it's a superb feeling. ~ Gordon Brown

Once government's objectives were economic growth and social cohesion. Now they are prosperity, fairness and environmental care ~ Gordon Brown

When New Labour came to power, we got a Right-wing Conservative government. I came to realise that voting Labour wasn't in Scotland's interests any more. Any doubt I had about that was cast aside for ever when I saw Gordon Brown cosying up to Margaret Thatcher in Downing Street. ~ Jimmy Reid

Every country is going to have to face up to globalisation, but Scotland has got a unique capacity because of its history as part of a multinational state to help us deal with that problem. ~ Gordon Brown

I had to deal with terrorist finance. And we had to, if you like, ensure that the accounts of people who were guilty of terrorist finance or using their accounts for terrorist finance were closed down. So we had to do asset freezing. ~ Gordon Brown

When Gordon Brown becomes prime minister, the balance sheet that reflects his economic stewardship could look very sickly indeed. He could become Labour's biggest liability, not its most marketable asset. ~ Vince Cable

I want to do something for Kirkcaldy and Fife. I am a full-time MP, not a businessman. ~ Gordon Brown

In the weeks and months ahead, my task is to show I have the new ideas, the vision and the experience to earn the trust of the British people. ~ Gordon Brown

On the other hand, the militant left, and many socialist intellectuals such as my old friend Ralph Miliband (whose sons were to become important figures in the offices of Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown), also wrote off the Labour Party until the moment when it had been captured and was ready to become 'a real socialist party', whatever that meant. I outraged some of my friends by pointing out that they were not seriously trying to defeat Mrs Thatcher. Whatever they thought, 'they acted as though another Labour government like the ones we have had before from time to time since 1945 were not just unsatisfactory, but worse than no Labour government … (i.e.) worse than the only alternative government on offer, namely Mrs Thatcher's ~ Eric J. Hobsbawm

We must understand that the British public's relationship with Europe is - and always has been, the sporting arena aside - about the benefits we can achieve in jobs, security, and quality of life from membership and how these benefits outweigh any disadvantages. ~ Gordon Brown

Nigel Farage wanted to privatise the health service. Nigel Farage does not believe in the values we believe in for our public services. ~ Gordon Brown

I did maths for a year at university. I don't think I was very good at it. And some people would say it shows. ~ Gordon Brown

The huge turnout for Live 8 here and around the world proves that thanks to the leadership from people like Tony Blair and Gordon Brown the world is beginning to demand more action on global health and poverty. ~ Bill Gates

The best way of realising our high ideals is to show that we have an alternative in government that is credible, that is radical, and is electable - is neither a pale imitation of what the Tories offer nor is it the route to being a party of permanent protest rather than a party of government. ~ Gordon Brown

When things are difficult, you have to be sure of who you are and what you want to achieve. ~ Gordon Brown

I think it's important that people know who you are and ... can ask any questions they like about you. ~ Gordon Brown

David Blunkett and I both take the same view that it is scandalous that someone from North Tyneside, Laura Spence, with the best qualifications and who wants to be a doctor, should be turned down by Oxford University using an interview system more reminiscent of the old school network and the old school tie than justice. It is about time for an end to that old Britain where what matters more are the privileges you are born with, rather than the potential you actually have. ~ Gordon Brown

When you've got a society that is diverse, what happens is for a time, the issue is integrating your minorities into that society. ~ Gordon Brown

We spend more on cows than the poor. ~ Gordon Brown

When I lost the sight of my eye and faced the prospect of going blind, my sight was saved by the NHS. ~ Gordon Brown

Boom and bust is a term that applied to the Conservative years and two of the worst recessions in history ~ Gordon Brown

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. ~ David Blunkett

Collective European Union action could mean no hiding places for evaders, no safe haven for tax avoiders, and no treasure islands for money launderers. ~ Gordon Brown

The growing evidence of climate change is forcing attention on carbon emissions and their reduction. ~ Gordon Brown

Why is playing football in Europe considered the pinnacle of our game, yet in other spheres of life, that same phrase - 'being in Europe' - is dismissed with suspicion? ~ Gordon Brown

This is a Budget for Britain's future to secure fairness for each child and invest in every child ~ Gordon Brown

It is our job to work for the government of the day and so that means working for Gordon Brown as Prime Minister, and we need to do those preparations just to be sure that we're ready for whoever you, the British public, elect and that's core to our civil service values over the last 150 years. ~ Gus O'Donnell

They should never have put me with that woman ... She was just a sort of bigoted woman who said she used to be Labour. ~ Gordon Brown

You have to live in the future, not the past. ~ Gordon Brown

Those who write off our European heritage are, at least in part, writing off their own heritage. ~ Gordon Brown

Cowdenbeath Football Club have always been at the centre of Cowdenbeath - literally and in every aspect of community life. ~ Gordon Brown

While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time, and we can't put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair, and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. ~ Gordon Brown

What is gained by debt relief and aid can be lost if we don't get a proper trade agreement in Hong Kong, ~ Gordon Brown

You can't just vote for yourself. All the time, you're thinking what sort of country, what world, what future? ~ Gordon Brown

The doubling of oil prices ... is creating a more difficult environment in which to act. ~ Gordon Brown

Meet the challenges of the time. ~ Gordon Brown

Stability is necessary for our future economic success. ~ Gordon Brown

In the news this week, the polls continue to slide for Gordon Brown and some people are saying he's dead and buried. But I think the opposite - I say GORDON'S ALIVE! ~ Brian Blessed

I think fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers - we should look at what young people are saying to us. ~ Gordon Brown

If our economies are to flourish, if global poverty is to be banished, and if the wellbeing of the world's people enhanced - not just in this generation but in succeeding generations - we must make sure we take care of the natural environment and resources on which our economic activity depends. ~ Gordon Brown

Football is becoming all about money. I would like to be in a lift with Gordon Brown and say, 'Please do something about football.' ~ Delia Smith

Almost certainly, my ancestors had travelled by sea from Sweden to England in search of prosperity, and the evidence suggests they left Sweden around the ninth or 10th centuries. ~ Gordon Brown

Indeed, Britain was set to repeat the old, familiar cycle of boom and bust. Since then, we have created and rigorously adhered to a new framework of modern economic management ~ Gordon Brown

The vision of personalised public services - meeting the individual needs of all our citizens - requires continuing reform in the way services are delivered ~ Gordon Brown

While you cannot deliver policies without principles, you cannot deliver principles without having power. You have quickly to move to a stage where, emphasising your principles, you build a programme, then call for popular support. ~ Gordon Brown

In Britain, we are not a secular state as France is, or some other countries. ~ Gordon Brown

We are entering an era in which national government, instead of directing, enables powerful regional and local initiatives to work, where Britain becomes as it should be - a Britain of nations and regions ~ Gordon Brown

As Tony [Blair] said in his book, Gordon [Brown] was brilliant and impossible. If he'd just been one of those things, the options are obvious. ~ Alastair Campbell