Top 100 Quotes About Charles Kennedy
#1. We want a strong, vibrant economy for Britain so that we can set out a clear and affordable alternative programme for government.
Charles Kennedy
#2. Only the Liberal Democrats have probed the government's failings consistently, thoroughly and effectively.
Charles Kennedy
#3. I should do something about the cigarettes; I quite accept that it's bad for your health, but you know a moderate tipple is positively beneficial and, at certain times, absolutely essential.
Charles Kennedy
#4. Those who use our public services should be able to deal directly with those who manage and deliver them.
Charles Kennedy
#5. Like John Major in her wake, Thatcher was convinced that she understood the Scots - yet couldn't understand why we remained so stubbornly resistant towards the notion of understanding her.
Charles Kennedy
#6. This country has a proud history of opening its doors to generations of people fleeing personal persecution, civil unrest and war.
Charles Kennedy
#7. Of all the principles which constitute Liberal Democracy, internationalism is the clearest, the most distinctive, and the one with the longest history.
Charles Kennedy
#8. My idealism has not abated, but I have witnessed it withering away nationwide, to the point where at least among the young, to have ideals is akin to being blinkered and oldfashioned.
Charles Kennedy
#9. I listened to the students on campus in Plymouth, worried about their steadily deepening debts and how on earth they would ever escape them.
Charles Kennedy
#10. The one thing we can all be sure about in politics is you are as well to expect the unexpected.
Charles Kennedy
#11. When it comes to our public services, decentralisation means giving power back to those on the front line - our doctors, nurses, teachers and physiotherapists, and our locally elected officials.
Charles Kennedy
#12. Soon after the 1997 election, I argued that there was no inverse law of political gravity which said that everything which went down had to come back up.
Charles Kennedy
#13. The House of Lords has many fine aspects, but at its heart, it is a betrayal of the core democratic principle that those in the enlightened world hold so dear - that those who make the laws of the land should be elected by those who must obey those laws.
Charles Kennedy
#14. There are hard choices to be made in balancing the country's security and an individual's liberties. But it is a choice that has to be faced.
Charles Kennedy
#15. I don't actually subscribe to the view that all power corrupts. But absolute power - when secured on the back of massive parliamentary majorities, which don't reflect the balance of political opinion in the country - can corrupt absolutely.
Charles Kennedy
#16. I want to see far more decisions taken far closer to the patients, the passengers and the pupils. Far more power for locally and regionally elected politicians who understand best the needs of their areas. And far more say too for the dedicated staff at all levels in health and education.
Charles Kennedy
#17. Ours is a stable country. Ours is a sensible country. And ours is a fundamentally decent country.
Charles Kennedy
#18. Tony Blair took us to war in Iraq on the basis of the supposed threat of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction.
Charles Kennedy
#19. I happen to consider myself a Highlander even before a Scot; I am proud to be British yet feel comfortable as a European citizen.
Charles Kennedy
#21. We opposed unlimited detention without trial. We stood up for trial by jury as well. And of course we spoke up for asylum seekers and for the most vulnerable in our society.
Charles Kennedy
#23. We are no longer a nation of one church; we are a nation of many churches.
Charles Kennedy
#24. Westminster is a jungle - and the hunter can always smell fear on its prey.
Charles Kennedy
#25. With 24-hour news ... the story moves on with the media.
Charles Kennedy
#26. Further Education should be about the ability to learn, not the ability to pay - everyone who is able should have the opportunity, regardless of their family background. I don't want to see students struggling with huge debts or frightened off even going to university in the first place.
Charles Kennedy
#27. Political parties need to look at the different kinds of support that people may need, suited to their way of life, and provide cost-effective solutions.
Charles Kennedy
#28. It is true that I entered parliament at the age of 23, and have now been representing the people of my constituency for over twenty years.
Charles Kennedy
#29. My health is good and it's up to me to keep it that way.
Charles Kennedy
#30. I'm not someone who dwells upon past events, taking the view that life is too short.
Charles Kennedy
#31. The late Roy Jenkins was both a mentor and a personal friend. He was a man of both phenomenal intellect and political achievement in equal measure.
Charles Kennedy
#32. The point never to lose sight of is to be guided by the correct thing, as you see it. It's the only way to approach such profound matters and retain your integrity.
Charles Kennedy
#33. Taking a principled and consistent stance over Iraq has attracted much criticism from our detractors and opponents.
Charles Kennedy
#34. It is the government's fundamental duty to ensure the security of every individual citizen.
Charles Kennedy
#35. Fair votes - fundamentally - are about the rights and the interests of the people.
Charles Kennedy
#36. To be seen to be human, provided you're doing your job at the same time, is definitely not a negative, not at all.
Charles Kennedy
#37. I couldn't imagine a day without music. It relaxes and stimulates me in equal measure and I hate the sound of silence - the concept, I mean, not the track by Simon and Garfunkel.
Charles Kennedy
#38. You won't catch Liberal Democrats describing trade unionists as wreckers.
Charles Kennedy
#39. The government's instinct is to shroud itself in secrecy - to act like the office of a president instead of as a collective cabinet government held to account by the elected House of Commons.
Charles Kennedy
#40. I don't want a headline saying 'Kennedy suggests this or implies that.'
Charles Kennedy
#42. I believe when the country feels threatened it is important that we are seen to be working together to find an appropriate structure for dealing with terrorists in our midst.
Charles Kennedy
#43. Politics means facing up to hard choices and facing down prejudice, short-termism, the easy, tempting court of knee-jerk public reaction.
Charles Kennedy
#44. The way to defeat international terrorism is through international cooperation based on international law, clear intelligence, and a measured and appropriate military response.
Charles Kennedy
#45. Liberals have been committed to the principles of human rights, international stability, and international justice. They have also sought international solutions to those problems which have demanded collective attention.
Charles Kennedy
#46. Decentralisation is controversial - but that's fine. We should be fearless about having a debate.
Charles Kennedy
#47. The most special relationships, in my experience, are based on a combination of trust and mutual respect.
Charles Kennedy
#48. My approach is always to try to be straight with people, especially about what my party can achieve.
Charles Kennedy
#49. Terrorism gravely threatens international peace and security, and as a solution, the power and apparent finality of force are seductive.
Charles Kennedy
#50. Gratification and happiness are becoming important measures of our quality of life.
Charles Kennedy
#51. We'll need to revise the tired assumption that people automatically become more conservative as they grow older.
Charles Kennedy
#53. I think that former leaders are best seen occasionally and not too often heard - particularly on the subject of their successors!
Charles Kennedy
#54. I can hardly think of an occasion when I've got into a stand-up fight with any political opponent. I've got my views, people know what they are, they can agree or they can choose to disagree. I'm not going to waste time just rubbishing everybody else.
Charles Kennedy
#56. The quicker we get rid of the lobby system the better for all of us. I don't think in this day and age it is tenable to have these nods and winks, and on-the-record and off-the-record briefings.
Charles Kennedy
#57. Liberal Democracy is all about extending choice. Give people the option to decide their retirement age, and you immediately extend their freedom in a very significant way.
Charles Kennedy
#58. With every day that passes, David Blunkett becomes more insensitive in his language and more intemperate in his actions.
Charles Kennedy
#59. The growing influence of focus groups means we are all in danger of being excessively cowed by their feedback.
Charles Kennedy
#60. The events of the Holocaust viewed through the eyes of Anne Frank are a unique and damming testament to the dreadful atrocities of that period of our history
Charles Kennedy
#61. We have a Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales, both elected by fairer votes - involving proportional representation.
Charles Kennedy
#62. It would be a tragedy if the remarkable international coalition against terrorism, successfully marshalled in the aftermath of 11 September, were to fragment over a unilateral U.S. strike against Baghdad.
Charles Kennedy
#63. No government body is more notorious for over-legislation than the Department of Trade and Industry.
Charles Kennedy
#64. Paddy Ashdown is the only party leader who's a trained killer. Although, to be fair, Mrs Thatcher was self taught.
Charles Kennedy
#65. Good political leadership for me involves getting the big decisions right - however difficult, however controversial, however potentially divisive - and then being able to take people with you.
Charles Kennedy
#66. I will go out of this world feet first with my Lib Dem membership card in my pocket.
Charles Kennedy
#67. Three simple words - freedom, justice and honesty. These sum up what the Liberal Democrats stand for.
Charles Kennedy
#68. A smaller-size party and parliamentary membership does not necessarily equate to lesser demands; if anything, the opposite can be the case.
Charles Kennedy
#69. I do think there is a great deal of caricature around the House of Commons. It is just that kind of place.
Charles Kennedy
#71. New Labour needs to realise that family life and the way we raise our children are private matters.
Charles Kennedy
#72. We must restore faith in politics. Reform of the House of Lords is only one part of the answer, but it is a vital one.
Charles Kennedy
#73. I find no contradiction between being a Highlander, a Scot, a citizen of the U.K. and a citizen of the European Union at one and the same time.
Charles Kennedy
#74. You mustn't confuse the need for effective chairmanship, which is part of the job of the boss, along with the ability to take tough decisions and to lead people.
Charles Kennedy
#75. We should have high expectations of our children, but politicians should not tell teachers how to meet them.
Charles Kennedy
#76. Useful lessons can be learned from our more successful local authorities - as you move into government, it is even more imperative to communicate speedily and persuasively with your members and your voters.
Charles Kennedy
#77. I believe that our country is a richer, more vibrant society precisely because it is a multi-racial, multi-ethnic society.
Charles Kennedy
#78. I did not dwell on the issue of Europe during either the 2001 or the 2005 campaigns - despite it being a pivotal personal concern and despite seeing it as something of a litmus test for liberal democracy.
Charles Kennedy
#79. We need a liberal agenda in which government resists the temptation to interfere in the lives of individuals but is equally determined to play an active role where creative action can advance the liberties of all.
Charles Kennedy
#80. I believe that access to a university education should be based on the ability to learn, not what people can afford. I think there is no more nauseating a sight than politicians pulling up the ladder of opportunity behind them.
Charles Kennedy
#81. In my view, nations together are stronger than when they are isolated. And because they are stronger, their people are more free, not less.
Charles Kennedy
#82. We actually believe in hope. But hope requires purpose. And purpose requires direction.
Charles Kennedy
#83. There stands no contradiction between giving voice to legitimate anxiety and at the same time, as and when exchange of fire commences, looking to the rest of the country, as well as all of us in the House, to give full moral support to our forces.
Charles Kennedy
#84. Actually, I think it's quite sensible not to take yourself too seriously.
Charles Kennedy
#85. I have never once been persuaded as to the causal link between the Iraqi regime, al-Qaeda and September 11. I do believe the impact of war under these circumstances is bound to weaken the international coalition against terrorism itself ...
Charles Kennedy
#86. We all accept the world would be safer without Saddam's baleful dictatorship.
Charles Kennedy
#87. We believe that government in Britain is there to protect people from terrorism and from the worst criminality, but never at the expense of our civil liberties and the basic tenets of our legal system.
Charles Kennedy
#88. If British troops are committed to action, then the nation will, of course, support them. Their courage and skill is not in doubt.
Charles Kennedy
#89. There is no satisfaction to be derived from having had many of our arguments borne out by events.
Charles Kennedy
#90. When human rights are systematically abused, it raises the question whether it may be legitimate in some circumstances for the international community to intervene within individual states as well as in conflicts between states.
Charles Kennedy
#91. It is my determination that we, as a party, continue to make that fundamental restatement of liberal values in the politics of our country.
Charles Kennedy
#92. The terrorist seeks to smash the most fundamental liberty of all: the right to lead our everyday lives on the basic assumption of safety.
Charles Kennedy
#93. A perennial problem that has faced the Scottish Highlands is that, time and again, too many of the more talented young people have had to move elsewhere - even abroad - through a lack of opportunities that should have been available.
Charles Kennedy
#94. Britain is a European power. We cannot change our geography. Our involvement in the politics of European cooperation is one of necessity. Our wealth and our security depend upon it.
Charles Kennedy
#95. My favourite novel is Frederick Forsythe's Day Of The Jackal, the story about the unproven case of this apparent Englishman who was hired to assassinate De Gaulle....
Charles Kennedy
#96. It has been the greatest privilege of my adult and public life to have served, for 32 years, as the Member of Parliament for our local Highlands and Islands communities.
Charles Kennedy
#97. When power is exercised exclusively at the centre, the result is rigidity of rules and alienation of the people subject to those rules.
Charles Kennedy
#98. For any new leader of any party at any given time it takes time if you are not in government to establish yourself.
Charles Kennedy
#99. Quality of life actually begins at home - it's in your street, around your community.
Charles Kennedy
#100. I took Bobby Kennedy through the delta and he cried like a baby.
Charles Evers
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