100 Quotes by David Lammy

It is hard to speak the truth about valued national institutions. But when they are not fit for purpose, we must speak out.

As the MP for an area like Tottenham you quickly learn that the factors leading to unemployment are as numerous as they are diverse.

Parenting is more than a numbers game: it's a question of whether people are equipped for the toughest job they will ever be asked to do.

To tackle the scourge of young unemployment we need to be ambitious.

If we want to raise the aspirations of young men, we should be praising their achievements, not talking them down.

We should not let those with a political agenda use London's growing population to support their anti-immigration rhetoric, and we should challenge those who want to label London's global attraction a flaw rather than a strength.

Unemployed people should be treated as potential to be realised, not a problem to be solved.

Cities can be paradoxical places. In the mornings they buzz with commuters, in the evenings they come alive with diners and partygoers, at weekends the streets fill with shoppers and market traders. But amidst the hustle and bustle, even the greatest city can be a lonely place.

The New Labour doctrine that skills training was the responsibility of employers was flawed. The idea that employers should take on a bigger role ignores the reality that employers have no incentive to train staff to leave. We can hardly expect Tesco to train checkout staff to become dental nurses.