Tom Black Quotes

“Osborne paused. “There is... something else.”Clegg sighed.“What?”“Your Wikipedia page.”“What? My-”“It says you're Prime Minister now.”“Well, it was news to me that I'm not, I can't-”“Was it one of your staff?”Silence fell heavily on the room. Clegg tilted his head to one side.“Are you... what are you...” he began.“I'm asking because if it was, it could be... serious.” Another pause. This time, Clegg couldn't help but smile in disbelief.“Are you going to accuse my staff of a constitutional coup for editing Wikipedia?”

“Most of what needs to be changed in the euro zone can be done without treaty changes. The demand for treaty change is as political as it is legal and I don't think it's going to happen soon.”

“I totally accept that it's a legitimate criticism that when you are involved in the day-to-day scrum of government... that what can get lost is the narrative, the hymn sheet... the song that inspires and lifts people's sights.”

“I've been interested in the idea of forgiveness and the necessity of it. I think of it as the most critical piece of any relationship, whether that be business, or romantic, or familial. We fail each other. We make mistakes. If we contract to go on after those mistakes, forgiveness is involved. Forgiveness is required.”

“We only learn at the speed of pain, and we don't have others in our lives without forgiveness.”

“The British political system and the whole clapped out Westminster architecture, and the language that we use about politics, it's completely unsustainable. You either decide to be part of that transition to do something different. Or you cling to old certainties.”

“Do I get up every morning and ask: am I doing the things that I believe in and am I doing them for the best possible motives? Yes. Unambiguously yes.”

“I don't want to clip on the armour every morning. I've seen some politicians do this and they get a bit mangled and bitter. I just refuse to do that. I refuse to be angry or bitter or complain, and I remain open. I may sometimes be a bit too open but I'm not going to change that one bit.”

“We need to teach our kids, because there is such a celebrity culture at the moment, that however rich you are, however famous you are, however glamorous you are, everyone has to live by the same rules.”

“Liberalism is a really old British tradition and it has a completely different attitude towards the individual and the relationship between the individual and the state than the collectivist response of Labour, and particularly Old Labour, does.”