William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw

"Oatley embarked on an extremely dangerous — even foolhardy — programme of visiting hardline republican areas, to which the Army went only in armoured vehicles. He did it without telling anybody, in order to talk with people who could bring him closer to his objective. Frankly, he was extraordinarily lucky to get away with it, and would certainly have been stopped if anyone [in government] had realised what he was doing."

"They are going up and down the country, stirring up apathy."

"I always think that it is entirely wrong to prejudge the past."

"[A Conservative government would operate a glasshouse system of detention centres for some of those young people] so that they receive a short sharp shock treatment which I hope will deter at least some of them from getting enmeshed deeper in the mire of crime."

"Encountered Willie Whitelaw at dinner. He came in rather late and then started to tell me how absolutely ghastly life was with that awful woman, how he was thinking of resigning (from the Shadow Cabinet), what was my advice, etc. So I said, "On the whole, don't resign, Willie." "Oh, good," he said. "No, don't resign," I said, "but distance yourself." "Quite right, quite right," he said, "quite right. It's better not to resign, but distance myself. That's right." A long and typical conversation with him, not to be taken too seriously."

"Every prime minister needs a Willie."