William Hague

“Well, if you're looking for me to lead a normal representative life, well good luck finding a foreign secretary who'd be like that - totally dependant on the political system and has never earned any money. Then you'll get the politicians you deserve.”

“As far as I'm aware, everybody in the shadow cabinet accepts that there's a compelling case on climate change and a strong scientific case.”

“At a time of such hope and optimism in the Middle East, we cannot let the Libyan government violate every principle of international law and human rights with impunity.”

“You can see over time whether people are prepared to differ or not.”

“We have to face the reality of climate change. It is arguably the biggest threat we are facing today.”

“I still agree with the invasion of Iraq. I don't agree with most of the decisions that accompanied it.”

“Inspiring scenes of people taking the future of their countries into their own hands will ignite greater demands for good governance and political reform elsewhere in the world, including in Asia and in Africa.”

“Britain does not normally these days play a huge part in peacekeeping.”

“You have to have as many defences in place as you possibly can. But even then of course - and it's important to stress this - you cannot guarantee being able to prevent every attack or every kind of attack.”

“I'm not, nor is anybody I know in government part of a nasty right wing clique.”

“Labour have been listening for too long to the so-called experts who think that competition is a dirty word and that communicating facts to our children is elitist.”

“I think the way things have been left after Iraq is that people won't believe the Government of the day, so they have to know that lessons have been learnt and that all political parties and people, whether they were for or against the invasion of Iraq, have learnt lessons.”

“It's really necessary for the United States to continue to give strong leadership to the Middle East peace process, supported by European countries at the same time.”

“The total economy of Latin America is bigger than China.”

“Let's not be afraid to speak the common sense truth: you can't have high standards without good discipline.”

“I have always thought that foreign-policy idealism has to be tempered with realism.”

“The EU is not a country and it's not going to become a country, in my view, now or ever in the future. It is a group of countries working together.”

“The low carbon economy is at the leading edge of a structural shift now taking place globally.”

“The message I take all round the world is Britain is open for business.”

“Turning away Turkey from the EU would be a great, long-term - a century-long - error by Europe.”