55 Quotes by David Gauke

I believe that the Conservative party is at its best when it's a pro-business, pragmatic party, so to appeal to the country, and the country loses out significantly if the centre right of politics becomes much more populist, nationalist, and more right of centre.

Middle-class commuters in Rickmansworth and Berkhamsted are wondering whether the Conservative party is the party that they have traditionally supported. And they certainly don't want to support a Farage-lite party.

If the Conservative party hasn't got room for Ken Clarke and Philip Hammond and 19 others, there is also a message there to millions of people who vote Conservative, that it's not a party for them. If you go down a divisive route, the scars will be very deep.

Boris Johnson was elected on a strategy that went down well with members, but was inevitably going to collide with reality and unravel. And it's happened more quickly than it might have done, for reasons for which he and his team are responsible.

Rather than recognising the challenges of a fast-changing society require sometimes complex responses, that we live in a world of trade-offs, that easy answers are usually false answers, we have seen the rise of the simplifiers.

Our judiciary has a reputation for intellectual rigour, careful consideration of the arguments, and a serious-minded determination to each decision based on what is right and not necessarily what is superficially popular. I am not sure that all politicians have the same reputation.

We must face facts. I have made that my guiding principle in office.

Our research shows that nearly 60% of recent offenders who engaged with a community-based alcohol programme did not go on to reoffend in the two years following treatment. Offenders given a community sentence including mental health treatment have also shown to be significantly less likely to reoffend.

We should be extremely cautious about continuing to increase sentences as a routine response to concerns over crime.