Professionally I would say taking up my constituents' problems is something I continue to enjoy after 22 years as an MP.

I have always considered myself of the reforming centre-left.

We would all rather see Iraq resolved successfully.

In my view, nations together are stronger than when they are isolated. And because they are stronger, their people are more free, not less.

The late Roy Jenkins was both a mentor and a personal friend. He was a man of both phenomenal intellect and political achievement in equal measure.

People have a huge desire to be listened to, for politicians to take the time to understand their problems.

It would be a tragedy if the remarkable international coalition against terrorism, successfully marshalled in the aftermath of 11 September, were to fragment over a unilateral U.S. strike against Baghdad.

As I spread my wings in politics, I discovered many Thatcher voters down south who were the same kind of people who loathed her in Scotland. They were puzzled by the Scots' antipathy, given the Falklands war and the strong militaristic history of the Highlands and elsewhere.

The point never to lose sight of is to be guided by the correct thing, as you see it. It's the only way to approach such profound matters and retain your integrity.

I want our party to step up its efforts to reflect and champion the concerns of everybody who has reached the second half of their lives.

In my view, as a country we need to rediscover some of that skepticism about government and revisit that libertarian agenda.

We Liberal Democrats don't believe we should use the tax structure to champion just one type of family.

As a Scot, representing a Scottish constituency for almost the past 25 years, I do not harbour an overweening ambition to pronounce on each and every matter exclusively English.

Labour politicians for generations have fought to bring democracy to the House of Lords.

The events of the Holocaust viewed through the eyes of Anne Frank are a unique and damming testament to the dreadful atrocities of that period of our history.

I should do something about the cigarettes; I quite accept that it's bad for your health, but you know a moderate tipple is positively beneficial and, at certain times, absolutely essential.

That 1983 general election contained the telltale seeds of eventual Scottish Tory self-destruction.

Political parties need to look at the different kinds of support that people may need, suited to their way of life, and provide cost-effective solutions.

The one thing we can all be sure about in politics is you are as well to expect the unexpected.

Courage is a peculiar kind of fear.