Politics Is A Highly Tribal Business.

Most People In The Country Would Think The Diamond Jubilee Is A Wonderful Occasion For Us To Celebrate Together As A Community And As A Nation. But I Suspect That Most People In The Country Would Think, Given That There Is Very Little Money Around, That This Probably Would Not Be The Top Of Their List Of Priorities For The Use Of Scarce Public Resources.

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 Have Got Instincts That, I Think, Are Very Much In Tune With People's Very Keen Sense To See Something Different. I Did Not Dream Of Being In Politics Since I Was Knee-high To A Grasshopper. I Was Not Involved In Student Politics, Or Not In That Partisan Way.

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.

I Totally Rule Out Any Arrangements With The Snp — In The Same Way I Rule Out Any Arrangements With Ukip - Because There Is No Meeting Point For Me With One Party That Basically Wants To Pull Our Country To Bits And Another Party That Wants Us To Pull Out Of The Eu. I Would Never Recommend To The Liberal Democrats That We Help Establish A Government Which Is Basically On A Life Support System, Where Alex Salmond Could Pull The Plug Any Time He Wants.