University Of Oxford Alumni

"[On the election of Donald Trump on 5 November] This is a dark, dark day for people around the globe. The world's largest economy and most powerful military will be led by a dangerous, destructive demagogue."

"This is a good decision by the European Parliament [to reduce the number of permits traded] and is an important step forward for climate change policy"

"I want other European countries to be more ambitious... We can go green and we can do it in a cheap way. The cost of renewables has been coming down significantly."

"Of course there will always be uncertainties within climate science and the need for research to continue. But some sections of the press are giving an uncritical campaigning platform to individuals and lobby groups. This is not the serious science of challenging, checking and probing. This is destructive and loudly clamouring scepticism born of vested interest, nimbyism, publicity seeking contraversialism or sheer blinkered, dogmatic, political bloody-mindedness. This tendency will seize upon the normal expression of scientific uncertainty and portray it as proof that all climate change policy is hopelessly misguided. By selectively misreading the evidence, they seek to suggest that climate change has stopped so we can all relax and burn all the dirty fuel we want without a care. Those who argue against all the actions we are taking to reduce emissions, without any serious and viable alternative, are asking us to take a massive gamble with the planet our children will inherit, in the face of all the evidence, against overwhelming odds."

"Membership of a terrorist group is a serious crime, as is encouraging or supporting terrorism, but Shamima Begum should face justice for those crimes in the UK."

"We need to become a political home to pro-EU liberal Tories and pro-EU liberal and social democrat Labour MPs and voters."

"This [ending EU migration rules] will hugely increase the damage cause by a no-deal Brexit"

"We've already seen in the Windrush scandal how the Conservatives' hostile environment checks can destroy the lives of people who have every right to be in the UK. The government's chaotic approach to Brexit risks a repeat of that scandal for EU citizens."

"Since the Brexit negotiations begun there's a third emotion I've been feeling - embarrassment. Embarrassment at our country's leaders. Embarrassment for Great Britain."

"To take police numbers in England and Wales to record lows when the terrorist threat to our country is rising is a dereliction of duty by the Conservatives."

"With Brexit the very best deal they can get is worse than what we've got now."

"Europe has sent a clear and firm message to the world that ambitious climate action is needed now"

"This morning only five countries in Europe had climate targets post 2020, now 28 countries do. It's good for consumers because we can decarbonise at the lowest possible cost using a diverse mix of technologies. And it's good for business as it provides the certainty they have been calling for to unlock billions in low carbon investment."

"There are more than a million British people living in Spain. There are hundreds of thousands of British people living in France. In fact there are tens of thousands of people living in almost every EU country and if we were to pull up the drawbridge on the English Channel, the truth is British people wouldn't be able to come and go because they'd take action against us."

"[Ending EU migration rules will] do nothing to reassure the hospitals that are already seeing record numbers of EU nurses leaving, or the companies struggling to recruit the staff they need"

"Whilst he has been my political opponent, Sir Keir Starmer will shortly become our Prime Minister. In this job, his successes will be all our successes, and I wish him and his family well. Whatever our disagreements in this campaign, he is a decent, public-spirited man, who I respect. He and his family deserve the very best of our understanding, as they make the huge transition to their new lives behind this door, and as he grapples with this most demanding of jobs in an increasingly unstable world."

"As Labour MPs wargame how to depose Sir Keir Starmer, some have a strategy from the Margaret Thatcher years in mind. In 1990, the former Conservative Prime Minister was told her time was up by a delegation of “men in grey suits” from her party. Now, Labour MPs are discussing sending a deputation of women to tell Starmer to resign."

"This is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with."

"Has Britain elected a bumbling nobody to the highest office in the land? Or does his dullness conceal a driving purpose?"

"The worst mistake of political conservatives in the western world has been to refuse to understand and examine the length, breadth, depth, and height of the post-1968 left in Europe and North America. If you do not know what you are fighting, you will never find out why you are fighting, or how you should fight it. By becoming dull, and by speaking in code, the revolution has overwhelmed those who would have fought it with all their might if it had appeared in the guise of the Bolsheviks or the Jacobins."

"[H]e got into Leeds University where he was told by academics that if only the world was ruled by human rights, it would be just and peaceful and there'd be no war. So he really believes in all that. That was his formation. And then he becomes prime minister and has this terrible awareness that the world is not ruled by words and paper. There’s things like armies and war in Europe and Donald Trump got elected. This is all pretty shocking [to him]."

"If you want a culture wars warrior, Starmer is not your man. If you want a radical socialist who seeks to overturn capitalism, Starmer is not your man. If you want an entertainer, a comedian, a tweeter, Starmer is not your man. If you want to rerun previous leaders, Wilson or Blair, or someone who runs an agile team firing on all cylinders, sorry, Starmer is not your man. But if you want a leader who might start to heal the sinews of an enfeebled state and anaemic economy, and who will work in the interests of the relatively powerless, then he may very well be who we need."

"On 5 July, either Keir Starmer or I will be Prime Minister. He has shown time and time again that he will take the easy way out and do anything to get power. If he was happy to abandon all the promises he made to become Labour leader once he got the job, how can you know that he won't do exactly the same thing if he were to become Prime Minister? If you don't have the conviction to stick to anything you say, if you don't have the courage to tell people what you want to do, and if you don't have a plan, how can you possibly be trusted to lead our country, especially at this most uncertain of times?"

"Two-tier Keir"

"He’s a true one-off, a pioneer in business, in politics. Many people love him. Others love to hate him. But to us, he's just... Peter."

"I actually welcome the judgment because I think it gives real clarity. It allows those that have got to draw up guidance to be really clear about what that guidance should say. So I think it's important that we see the judgment for what it is. It's a welcome step forward. It's real clarity in an area where we did need clarity, I'm pleased it's come about. We need to move and make sure that we now ensure that all guidance is in the right place according to that judgment."

"You have given us a clear mandate, and we will use it to deliver change. To restore service and respect to politics, end the era of noisy performance, tread more lightly on your lives and unite our country. Four nations standing together again, facing down as we have so often in our past, the challenges of an insecure world committed to a calm and patient rebuilding. So with respect and humility, I invite you all to join this government of service in the mission of national renewal. Our work is urgent, and we begin it today."

"Let me start by saying that the victims of Epstein are at the forefront of our minds. He was a despicable criminal who committed the most heinous crimes and destroyed the lives of so many women and girls. The ambassador has repeatedly expressed his deep regret for his association with Epstein, and he is right to do so. I have confidence in him, and he is playing an important role in the UK–US relationship."

"Yet, if I am honest, service is merely a precondition of hope, and it is surely clear to everyone that our country needs a bigger reset, a rediscovery of who we are. Because no matter how fierce the storms of history, one of the great strengths of this nation has always been our ability to navigate away to calmer waters. And yet this depends upon politicians, particularly those who stand for stability and moderation — as I do — recognising when we must change course. For too long now, we turned a blind eye as millions slid into greater insecurity. Nurses, builders, drivers, carers, people doing the right thing, working harder every day, recognised at moments like this before, yet, as soon as the cameras stop rolling, their lives are ignored. I want to say very clearly to those people — not this time."

"Changing a country is not like flicking a switch. The world is now a more volatile place. This will take a while. But have no doubt that the work of change begins immediately. Have no doubt that we will rebuild Britain with wealth created in every community."

"Let me start where I must: with the victims of Epstein. All our thoughts are with them. Our thoughts are also with all those who lost jobs, savings and livelihoods in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash. To learn that there was a Cabinet Minister leaking sensitive information at the height of the response to the 2008 crash is beyond infuriating, and I am as angry as the public and any Member of this House. Mandelson betrayed our country, our Parliament and my party. He lied repeatedly to my team when asked about his relationship with Epstein, before and during his tenure as ambassador. I regret appointing him. If I knew then what I know now, he would never have been anywhere near Government. That is why yesterday the Cabinet Secretary, with my support, took the decision to refer material to the police, and there is now a criminal investigation. I have instructed my team to draft legislation to strip Mandelson of his title, and wider legislation to remove disgraced peers. This morning I have agreed with His Majesty the King that Mandelson should be removed from the list of Privy Counsellors on the grounds that he has brought the reputation of the Privy Council into disrepute."

"Brick by brick, we will rebuild the infrastructure of opportunity, the world class schools and colleges, the affordable homes that I know are the ingredients of hope for working people, the security that working class families like mine can build their lives around. Because if I asked you now whether you believe that Britain will be better for your children, I know too many of you would say no, and so my government will fight every day until you believe again. From now on, you have a government unburdened by doctrine guided only by the determination to serve your interest, to defy, quietly, those who have written our country off."

"I call again for...the return of the sausages."

"I am clear that Israel has the right to defend itself against Iranian aggression. I'm equally clear that we need to avoid further regional escalation and urge all sides to show restraint. Iran should not respond"

"We did it. You campaigned for it, you fought for it, you voted for it and now it has arrived. Change begins now. And it feels good, I have to be honest. Four-and-a-half years of work changing the party. This is what it is for – a changed Labour Party ready to serve our country, ready to restore Britain to the service of working people. And across our country, people will be waking up to the news – relieved that a weight has been lifted, a burden finally removed from the shoulders of this great nation. And now we can look forward again, walk into the morning, the sunlight of hope, pale at first, but getting stronger through the day, shining once again on a country with the opportunity after 14 years to get its future back. And I want to thank each and every one of you here for campaigning so hard for change, and not just in this campaign either – also for these four-and-a-half years changing our party. The Labour movement is always – everything’s achieved past and future – down to the efforts of its people. So thank you truly – you have changed our country. But a mandate like this comes with great responsibility. Our task is nothing less than renewing ideas that hold this country together – national renewal. Whoever you are, wherever you started in life, if you work hard, if you play by the rules, this country should give you a fair chance to get on. It should always respect your contribution and we have to restore that. And alongside that, we have to return politics to public service, show that politics can be a force for good. Make no mistake, that is the great test of politics in this era – the fight for trust is the battle that defines our age. It is why we campaigned so hard on demonstrating we are fit for public service. Service is the pre-condition for hope, respect the bond that can unite a country. Together, the values of this changed Labour Party are the guiding principle for a new government – country first, party second. That is the responsibility of this mandate. You know, 14 years ago, we were told that we're all in it together. I say to the British people today, imagine what we can do if that were actually true. So by all means, enjoy this moment. Nobody can say you haven’t waited patiently. Enjoy the feeling of waking up on a morning like this with the emotion that you do see the country through the same eyes. Hold onto it, because it is what unity is made from, but use it to show to the rest of the country, as we must, that this party has changed, that we will serve them faithfully, govern for every single person in this country. But also don’t forget how we got here. This morning, we can see that the British people have voted to turn the page on 14 years but don’t pretend that there was anything inevitable about that – there’s nothing pre-ordained in politics. Election victories don’t fall from the sky. They’re hard won and hard fought for, and this one could only be won by a changed Labour Party. We have the chance to repair our public services because we’ve changed the party. We have the chance to make work pay because we’ve changed the party. We have the chance to deliver for working people, young people, vulnerable people, the poorest in our society because we’ve changed the party. 'Country first, party second' isn’t a slogan – it's the guiding principle (of) everything we have done and must keep on doing – on the economy, on national security, on protecting our borders. The British people have to look us in the eye and see that we can serve their interest and that work doesn’t stop now – it never stops. The changes we've made are permanent, irreversible and we must keep going. We ran as a changed Labour Party and we will govern as a changed Labour Party. I don't promise you it will be easy. Changing a country's not like flicking a switch, it's hard work, patient work, determined work, and we will have to get moving immediately. But even when the going gets tough, and it will, remember, tonight and always, what this is all about. Now I may have mentioned my parents a few times in this campaign – once or twice – but the sense of security we had, the comfort they took from believing that Britain would always be better for their children, the hope, not high-minded, not idealistic, but a hope that working-class families like mine could build their lives around. It is hope that may not burn brightly in Britain at the moment, but we have earned the mandate to relight the fire. That is the purpose of this party and of this Government. We said we would end the chaos and we will. We said we would turn the page and we have. Today we start the next chapter, begin the work of change, the mission of national renewal and start to rebuild our country. Thank you."

"I have just returned from Buckingham Palace, where I accepted an invitation from His Majesty the King to form the next government of this great nation. I want to thank the outgoing Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. His achievement as the first British Asian Prime Minister of our country — the extra effort that that will have required — should not be underestimated by anyone. We pay tribute to that today, and we also recognise the dedication and hard work he brought to his leadership. But now our country has voted decisively for change, for national renewal and a return of politics to public service."

"This is a serious plan, carefully thought through. It is not about rabbits out of the hat, it's not about pantomime, we've had enough of that. I'm running as a candidate to be prime minister, not a candidate to run the circus."

"When the gap between the sacrifices made by people and the service they receive from politicians grows this big, it leads to a weariness in the heart of a nation, a draining away of the hope, the spirit, the belief in a better future — that we need to move forward together. Now this wound, this lack of trust, can only be healed by actions, not words. I know that, but we can make a start today with the simple acknowledgement that public service is a privilege and that your government should treat every single person in this country with respect. If you voted Labour yesterday, we will carry the responsibility of your trust as we rebuild our country. But whether you voted Labour or not — in fact, especially if you did not — I say to you directly, my government will serve you. Politics can be a force for good. We will show that. We’ve changed the Labour Party, returned it to service — and that is how we will govern, country first party second."

"I am sorry. Sorry for what was done to you, sorry that so many people with power failed you, sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies and appointing him."

"If you want politics as pantomime, I hear Clacton is nice this time of year."

"In fact, I hate tree huggers."

"As for Uxbridge [and South Ruislip], we always knew that was going to be tough [...] We didn't win Uxbridge in 1997, and obviously we knew that ULEZ [(Ultra Low Emission Zone)] was an issue. That's why we lost in Uxbridge. We all need to reflect on that, including the mayor [of London], but there's no taking away from the historic event that has happened here in Selby [and Ainsty]."

"[On the Just Stop Oil protests] I can't wait for them to stop their antics, frankly. They're interrupting iconic sporting events that are part of our history, tradition and massively looked forward to across the nation. I absolutely condemn the way they go about their tactics. And I have to say it's riddled with an arrogance that only they have the sort of right to force their argument on other people in this way."

"Every time there's been the threat of a rebellion he's backed down. The one thing you get if you win the leadership of your party is the right to say 'I've won the leadership and I'm going to do this, and we're going to do it and this is what I'm saying we're going to do with the party, and we're going to do it’. He doesn't have the ability to do that because he hasn't got a mandate."

"The Labour Party I lead is patriotic. It is a party of public service, not protest. It is a party of equality, justice and fairness; one that proudly puts the needs of working people above any fringe interest. It is a party that doesn't just talk about change – it delivers it."

"The lettuces are out, but the turnips are in."

"Further information came to light yesterday calling for decisive action, so I took decisive action. It is a huge thing to withdraw support for a Labour candidate during the course of a by-election. It's a tough decision, a necessary decision, but when I say the Labour Party has changed under my leadership I mean it."

"They blew up for me an incredibly detailed photograph of a lung with very dark marks on it which were all the air pollution from our roads which were causing cancer in that and many other patients. It's worth us all just asking ourselves...if we are not prepared to do these sort of schemes what are we going to do. If increasing numbers of people, and young people as well, are getting cancer...I have to say..intake of breath when I saw the phot[o]graph, they said there are the dark areas that are lung cancer because of it (air pollution). We can’t just sit that out."

"[Opposing a future Scottish independence referendum regardless of the Supreme Court in London potentially deciding to accept the Scottish Parliament has a legal right to hold one.] It's good the case has gone to court because I think it's better to have legal certainty, so we all know the basis on which we're operating [...] All the court is going to be able to rule is, if it does rule in favour, is that there could or can be, [that] it's legally permissible to have a referendum. That doesn't answer the political question, which is 'should there be a referendum'?"

"We took the decision to leave and we have left. So now what we need to do is rather than just sticking with the deal we've got which is not good enough, we need to make Brexit work."