Quotes By John Major

The sight of allegedly sophisticated politicians parroting complete tripe trivialises and demeans government and it has to be stopped. It's played a significant part in public disillusionment with politics and has led to the absurd situation where more people vote for 'Strictly Come Dancing' than voted in the general election.

I have been reading the press more regularly than others over 50 years and it seems to me that there are things that have changed in the press that have changed its character.

Certainly we've seen the enormous changes across the whole of the Middle East. The democratic genie is out of the bottle.

You don't forget crises and neither does the Queen.

I want Britain to punch its weight in the European Community.

Too many people looked to me in the eye and did not tell me the truth.

If you look at things that really affect people's lives - sport, the arts, charities - they were always at the back of the queue for government money - health, social security, defence, pensions were all way ahead. And each of those areas - sports, the arts, the lottery - got relatively petty cash from the government.

September the 11th was a huge shock in the United States. It was the first time you had been hit at home in your own territory by terrorist on this scale.

I don't think nations can stand aside for ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Ronnie Barker will forever be remembered as one of the great comic actors.

When the euro was born, it was born in the wrong economic circumstances.

When I was in office the fundraising was done by the party treasurers.

I'm very proud of what my parents achieved and what they stood for. They didn't have much, but in many ways they were richer than most.

Only in Britain could it be thought a defect to be too clever by half. The probability is that too many people are too stupid by three-quarters.

The first requirement of politics is not intellect or stamina but patience. Politics is a very long run game and the tortoise will usually beat the hare.

I don't have a shred of regret about entering the exchange-rate mechanism.

It is time to return to core values, time to get back to basics , to self-discipline and respect for the law, to consideration for the others, to accepting responsibility for yourself and your family - and not shuffling it off on other people and the state.

I think the biggest mistake I made was this wretched ability to see both sides of an argument.

Recovery begins from the darkest moment.

Well, I have concerns about the effectiveness of Europe to compete.

Well what would happen is that if Greece defaulted and couldn't pay its debts, all the Greek bonds that are held in other banking systems across Western Europe would suddenly have no value. You could as a knock-on effect create a banking crisis in Western Europe.

Let's turn British inventions into British industries, British factories and British jobs. Let them make pounds for us, not dollars marks or yen for others.

I think the majority of the British people are still sanguine about the need for war.