"When Professor John Morgan wrote and asked me to deliver the Hugh Gaitskell Memorial Lecture saying yes required very little consideration on my part."

"Not only was I personally flattered to be in a position to deliver such a prestigious lecture, but being able to say to my Mum that such a request had been made of me I knew was bound to bring out an ooh from her; she would be proud of her son.

"But very importantly being able to present this lecture gives me the opportunity, in the era of globalisation, to take forward some ideas and issues I have been thinking about and working on with colleagues and friends in this country and across the world. At the same time too it enables me to remind a few people of some old stories and truths.

"I have to admit that my first engaged thought on applying my ideas to the tradition of this occasion was the realisation that my knowledge of all but the headlines of the work and contribution of Hugh Gaitskell was inadequate.

"I have also to admit that my own bookshelves were not of any great assistance."