Hilary Benn

“I agree on the need for environmental sustainability. It is no good raising gross national income while at the same time destroying natural assets.”

“State-building can not be imposed. Its foundation must be a shared understanding between those who govern, and those who give their consent to be governed - the 'deal' between citizen and state.”

“With rising pressures on councils, particularly on social care and looked-after children, we have to reshape the way public services work to break down the barriers and get services working together.”

“Politics is a process, and there has to be a continual conversation between those who govern and those who give their consent to be governed.”

“People are yearning for a politics that tells it straight: that being in government is difficult, that there are tough decisions that we have to make sometimes.”

“All countries will feel the increasing effects of dangerous climate change and it is those least able to bear it who are already being hurt first and hardest.”

“I spent 20 years working for the trade union movement before becoming a Labour MP. I'm proud to have done both jobs.”

“The union movement has achieved a huge amount in the past century or so. It has secured important rights at work, tackled unfair discrimination and ensured that Britain is one of the safest places in the world in which to go to work.”

“The poorest still deserve help with life's basic necessities regardless of the quality of their government.”

“In the 70s and 80s, Dad was 'the most hated politician in Britain'. When I started at Holland Park school, the papers turned up and there was a photograph of me published - skinny me in white shorts lining up with lots of other kids for PE. And I was 10.”