Contrast that with the call of the Liberal Democrats in April, when they were prepared to call upon the British people to participate in a 24-hour strike. It shows how far to the right the Labour Party’s gone.

I have never been an idealist – that implies you aren’t going to achieve something.

There’s a feeling that strength is determined by the size of a union. That clearly is nonsense.

The trouble with the Labour Party leadership and the trade union leadership, they’re quite willing to applaud millions on the streets of the Philippines or in Eastern Europe, without understanding the need to also produce millions of people on the streets of Britain.

I wouldn’t vote for Ken Livingstone if he were running for mayor of Toytown.

Yet what you need is not marches, demonstrations, rallies or wide associations, all of them are important. What you need is direct action. The sooner people understand that, the sooner we’ll begin to change things.

My father still reads the dictionairy every day. He says your life depends on your power to master words.

In 1984, the miners' union, which was down to about 180,000, was able to sustain a national industrial dispute for one year and four months.

My father still reads the dictionairy every day. He says your life depends on your power to master words

I have never been an idealist - that implies you aren't going to achieve something.