Quotes by Michael Portillo

Leaving politics was a good thing. I was spared a miserable Tory government where I might have ended up as leader.

As a politician, I spent a lot of time in Washington and New York, cities that are familiar to Europeans.

Here in Britain, we can get a little bit snobby about American history. Yes, their history is not quite as long as ours. But it isn't all that short, either.

Personal responsibility matters.

Freedom matters.

I can never thoroughly appreciate meals on ships because, away from land, I feel my autonomy is restricted.

What is it about trains that makes food taste so good? Some of my happiest memories are of prolonged lunches between St. Moritz and Zurich, Bordeaux and Paris, and even between Coimbra and Salamanca.

Television brings with it two dangerous hazards: the worship of celebrity and the blurring of reality and fantasy.

Were we ever to find ourselves living under a totalitarian regime, place no faith in the mercy of your fellow citizens.

My grandfather, who was always keen to promote living artists, staged an unprecedented exhibition of Peploe's works at Kirkcaldy in 1928.