Politician

Putting roadblocks in the way of legitimate strike action only increases the likelihood of more wildcat strikes, which in turn will make it that much harder for employers to address legitimate grievances, given that they'll lose the ability to negotiate with recognised union leaders.

By creating a perception that the U.K. places a higher premium on striking commercial deals than it does on promoting and protecting human rights, our reputation in the world suffers.

I wear the chips that I have on my shoulder with pride.

When I first started campaigning to become an MP in 2004, we were suffering as a party because our hierarchy and leadership were totally detached from the party's membership.

Even though I've had the odd terse word to say about Donald Trump, I still get invited to events at the U.S. embassy. I always attend, because as long as they're prepared to hear the opposite viewpoint, then I'll never miss that chance when I can.

The fact of the matter is that when governments fail - as the Tories have done - to tackle the root causes of working peoples' need for welfare support, like low pay and high rents, the number of working people relying on benefits increases.

The destructive impact of employment tribunal fees, which were introduced in 2013, is by now well known.

To give him his credit, I never thought I'd say this, but Donald Trump was talking about the importance of investing in jobs and infrastructure and in the economies across the country, not just the main cities, and that's right.

The 'Welfare Reform and Work' Bill does nothing to address low wages, or underemployment, and I haven't even got started on how it undermines the provision of affordable housing.

There's a particularly nasty element when lots of men get together sometimes.

People like to think about MPs in very crass terms: you're either an uber-loyalist babe, or you're a rebel. There isn't any grown-up room to be thoughtful. There isn't space in public debate for that.

I went to this rubbish school. I asked the careers master what he thought that I was going to do with my life, and he said I could always visit criminals in prison.

White collar crime must be taken as seriously as any other crime.

It's often been said that politics in Islington, in many ways, begins and ends with housing, and it's not hard to see why. Despite the borough's image of exclusivity - the stereotype that it's all Georgian squares and cappuccino bars - the reality is much more complex.

Food banks have become such a powerful symbol in part because they're inescapable.

Labour is fundamentally a Remain party but it is in our interests to negotiate as good a deal as possible.

When you've made a mistake, you have to admit you've made a mistake, and correct it.

The Fraud Act 2006 makes it perfectly clear that Libor rigging is prosecutable as a criminal offence.

There was a time when a certain type of Tory could have been relied on to swing from the chandeliers in defence of the rights of freeborn Britons. I suppose a lot of those Tories would have been what you might call 'one-nation Tories.' That tradition has died in the Conservative party.

I was 10 when the Equal Pay Act was passed. It was pretty inspiring stuff.