Top 108 Quotes by David Blunkett

If surveillance infiltrates our homes and personal relationships, that is a gross breach of our human and civil rights.

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.

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.

Without the political parties and the volunteering work of their members day in, day out, we would have a very different sort of politics and society.

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.

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

I was affected by the harshness of government, the reality of 16-hour days, and the pressures of modern communications.

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

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

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.