Top 47 Quotes & Sayings by Kenneth Clarke
Explore popular quotes and sayings by an English politician Kenneth Clarke.
Last updated on September 17, 2024.
I am a firm believer in open justice, and an opponent of closed justice in any normal circumstances. But I am also an opponent of legal purism, and have no time for institutionalised mythmaking - whether from the authoritarian right or the liberal left.
Jonathan Hill is an old friend of mine; I have worked with him for many years and know him to be a man of outstanding ability who has never sought a public profile.
My sense is that the majority of Conservatives share my reservations about how we got into Iraq.
The political health of Britain has deteriorated very sharply. The Conservative Party must do something about it. I am the man to do it.
Access to justice is a fundamental part of a properly functioning democracy.
Referendums are designed to get round parliamentary government, and people only demand referendums when they think they can't get a majority in parliament. Mussolini was the most brilliant practitioner of referendums.
Only an ideologue deals with the world as he would wish it to be, as opposed to the world as it is.
I am getting frustrated by the fact that we have been out of office for eight years. I desperately want to lead the Conservative Party to make quicker progress back into power.
Nigel Farage has persuaded too many people that we have lost control of our borders.
I am not a creature of giant business and I think that small- and medium-sized businesses will derive the most benefit from the removal of bureaucratic obstacles to trade.
I don't think at my age... you can start ruling people out in politics.
Unless and until I can see an opportunity of actually reversing Brexit and restoring a stable membership of the European Union, then in the real world I concentrate on minimising the damage.
I cannot remember a time in opposition - I am talking about the last four years - when we have done less work on policy and more on slogans. But because of my European views I wasn't allowed to participate.
Margaret was the best prime minister of my lifetime. Mythology has turned Thatcher into someone regarded either as a goddess by her supporters or an evil witch by her opponents.
Without legal aid, and the dedicated lawyers who deliver it, our system of justice would quite simply collapse.
Of course I'd have loved to be Prime Minister. But I'm not nursing a grievance.
Having everybody voting to avoid a £25 fine is no way to solve public apathy.
Whether we remain in the European Union will determine Britain's future role in the world and the comparative success of our economy for our children and grandchildren.
When E.U. governments are able to agree on political and economic policies, they will remain a superpower to influence the Americans, the Russians, Indians and Chinese over the coming decades. Britain on its own would resume the decline which continued through most of the 20th century.
It would be immoral to walk away from the consequences of our actions, leaving behind anarchy and civil war in Iraq.
Trade deals are not the vehicle for raising or lowering standards of protection for consumers, the environment, workers or anyone else. Regulations are made by governments and parliaments.
For those who want out, Brexit remains an end in itself, regardless of what is in the interest of our society, in terms of prosperity, security and influence on the wider world stage.
Locking people up without reducing the risk of them committing new crimes against new victims the minute they get out does not make for intelligent sentencing.
All political careers are a rollercoaster.
No country anywhere in the world allows material that genuinely puts national security at risk into the public domain, and that includes a courtroom.
I'm notorious for only using my mobile phone for outgoing calls: nobody knows my London number and I certainly don't do anything online.
My entire political career has been based on building up Britain's political standing and economic prosperity through our membership of the E.U. and the European project.
Margaret Thatcher and John Major knew that bluff and bravado doesn't work in Brussels.
Thatcher was the best politician I have ever witnessed.
However, we do not lack anti-terrorist laws. I do not believe that the recent London bombs were the result of any deficiencies in our legal system.
I am sorry to upset my colleagues by saying we wasted four years in opposition, but if you do get so badly defeated as a party you do have to face up to some painful facts and you do have to change.
Energetic action on debt would make a radical difference to the prospects of many of the poorest countries in the world, at no practical cost to creditor countries.
Britain's political voice depends on our role as a leading and influential member of the E.U. If we leave, we are of less value to our allies and of less concern to our enemies. We need the strongest voice we can get in the dangerous modern world.
I am a stalwart supporter of the British judiciary who are the best in the world.
The Blair government has lowered the standing of politics and politicians in our country.
Politicians should inspire you to vote, they should appeal to people.
If the prime minister really believes it, he must be the only person left who thinks that the recent bombs in London had no connection at all with his policy in Iraq.
The Conservative Party have got to ask themselves, 'How do we persuade people who at the moment are voting Labour and Liberal Democrat to vote Conservative
I have acquired a deep and abiding respect for all those engaged in the difficult business of commerce.
I am certainly not a blogger. Quite a large proportion of them are nuts and extremists - with the honourable exception of the culture secretary.
I have certainly not got re-elected to retire, and I shall certainly start trying to push my influence in politics as far as I possibly can
I look forward to the day when the Westminster Parliament is just a council chamber in Europe
With the greatest respect, we do not make the criminal law on the basis of opinion polls. A majority of 9:1 could be in favour of a ban in my constituency, but I would not regard that as conclusive, and I hope that we never would. If we start having opinion polls about all the unpleasant and distasteful habits and customs of some members of society, and suggesting that their findings should be made part of the criminal law, foxhunting would come way down the list, and quite a lot of strange enactments would have to go through the House.
In these home affairs things I think occasionally it's the duty of politicians on both sides to turn round to the tabloids and right-wing newspapers and say 'you have your facts wrong and you're whipping up facts which are inaccurate
I have never read it. You should not waste your time.
I trust that whoever leads the Conservative Party actually pays regard to my advice on how we should conduct ourselves and I personally will obviously support whoever eventually wins.
A balanced tone on Europe will free us to address in depth the domestic, economic and social agenda which we neglected throughout the last parliament.
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