Hilary Benn

“Getting money out of Whitehall and down to the town hall is also essential if we are going to address the crisis of confidence - and alienation - in our politics.”

“Trade deal negotiations are highly complicated and take a long time.”

“We face a simple choice. Either we go back to the days when everything was disposable and landfill dumps consumed our countryside at an increasing pace, or we recognise that we have limited resources and need to use them wisely and sustainably.”

“The thing that worries me more than anything else is losing faith in the capacity of politics to change things. I don't mean scepticism, criticism, querying, but I do mean cynicism.”

“The problem is that the global arms trade is entirely free of international regulation. In a world in which the flow of consumer goods is governed by a plethora of international conventions and regulations, deadly weapons have an uncanny knack of slipping through the net.”

“Do I have political heroes? Probably not wise to.”

“We will need to work hard to break the cynicism, talk straight and rebuild trust in politics.”

“I'm really keen to see a Labour government because there are many things to be done, not least pursuing a sensible Brexit and not one that damages our economy and jobs.”

“When it comes to jobs, investment, growth, security and our influence in the world we are clearly stronger in Europe. But we are also making a Labour argument about workers' rights that really matter, to millions of working people and the trade unions that represent them.”

“We came to see the benefits for working people of common employment rights, guaranteed throughout the EU to prevent a race to the bottom. We worked together in practical ways to make cleaner beaches, protect the environment and ensure consumer rights.”

“And being in the EU has given Britain a stronger voice in the world. Britain leads in Europe, from trade to climate change, from good governance to debt relief for the poorest nations, and in turn Europe helps to lead the world.”

“The Tories claim that they have changed. Their stance on foxhunting makes it absolutely clear that they haven't. They know the public doesn't agree with them. They know that this is about animal cruelty, pure and simple.”

“Average tariffs between rich countries are only 3 per cent. But developing countries face tariffs of more than 300 per cent in the EU for meat and more than 200 per cent in the US for fruit and nuts. These need to come down dramatically.”

“I was interested in public service, and looking back at my father, my grandfather and two great-grandfathers, well, yeah, that's what they did, too. And I think public service, like journalism, done right is a really honourable, really important profession.”

“We are looking at how you change the relationship between central and local government and how to use public resources to the best effect at the local level.”

“After all, does it make sense to be chucking things like glass, paper, cardboard, wood, metals, plastics, and food waste into holes in the ground? No, it doesn't; especially when someone will pay you good money to take them off your hands or, in the case of wood and food waste, when you can turn them into renewable energy.”

“People who feel alienated have little trust in the institutions of our society. This adds to the wider sense of disaffection and makes it more difficult for our politics to work.”

“The Brexit referendum showed us to be divided, and those of us who campaigned for remain have to accept that we lost. But that does not mean that we have to agree to the deal the prime minister has brought back - a deal that satisfies no one.”

“Decisions about whether industries or companies should be publicly or privately owned are for the governments of developing countries to make; but where they ask for our assistance we'll give it.”

“We must not ignore the younger electorate in a fight for older swing voters who we can be confident will go to the polls.”