People feel politics isn't about their lives.

Today, the UK must be the pioneer of a new model of economic change, that integrates social and environmental consideration. This is not just a question of values and moral duty. It is about our economy’s capacity to sustain itself.

The biggest opportunity in 2013 is in Africa. It has seven out of the ten fastest-growing economies in the world. In Nigeria alone there are 100 million people with mobile phones. In total, 300 million Africans – five times the population of Britain – are in the middle class.

Everything about my politics has been about the future.

The problems that the world faces – from nuclear proliferation to climate change – can’t be tackled by the West alone. They need a coalition of not just West and East, but they need a coalition of Christian and Jew and Muslim.

John Major put the ‘er’ back into Conservative, David Cameron’s put the ‘Con’ into Conservative – and Norman Lamont put the ‘vat’ into Conservative!

I’m a great believer in the Arsene Wenger school of management – which is, you don’t worry about the opposition, you just get your own act together.

Essentially, by 2050 we need all activities outside agriculture to be near zero carbon emitting if we are to stop carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere growing.

We are a European nation – must stay one.

I’ve committed myself to serve my constituents in South Shields and I have committed myself to British politics.