Ken Livingstone

“I actually think the civil service, who are the malignancy at the heart of public life, have consciously prevented, talked ministers out of, made it difficult regulatory-wise, to allow more...”

“The civil service are risk averse.”

“My administration will tackle these issues in consultation with the black communities of London.”

“If I was courting the Muslim vote, I wouldn't have put establishing the partnership ceremony at the forefront of my first term, would I? I go all around London advocating lesbian and gay rig...”

“Working with the Jewish community is essential to me and what I stand for.”

“I was a weedy kid, not like one of those working-class men who can accommodate not being academically clever by physical strength and prowess.”

“My political beliefs are my moral, quasi-religious framework.”

“When I'm sifting the compost seed or pruning, I argue over issues in my head; I talk to myself.”

“The people I really most admire are Robert Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt. If you know someone, it is very hard to revere them.”

“I spent the 1960s and 1970s seeking myself - the working-class tradition of self-education.”

“I think democracy's undermined when those who own newspapers fill them with trivia rather than real issues.”

“Polling in a general election is pretty accurate, because turnout is usually high.”