Ken Clarke: Making prisoners pay to support victims

As you know, I have been in a few Ministerial posts before and served in two or three previous Governments. I have never seen political and economic events of the kind we have now.

We have the worst economic crisis in my lifetime. We have a political system which has ...

Ken Clarke: Labour's economic incompetence

It's a pleasure to follow George Osborne on the platform today. This weekend showed very vividly why we can't afford five more years of Gordon Brown. There's a choice to be made, and the choice of Gordon Brown is a very expensive choice indeed.

We have been ...

Ken Clarke: Britain will be a decent place to do business again

I have done this a few times before - and I still enjoy it. Those who have followed my political career from afar and those who know me well will probably agree that I am not one of nature’s pessimists. I am trying to delay becoming a grumpy old man ...

Ken Clarke: Listening to business

Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for your participation so far.  Thank you to the Institute of Civil Engineers.  It's a very suitable setting and goes back to grand days of when Britain became great from the industrial Revolution.  

I enjoy great discussion.  Political debate is ridiculously dumbed down.  I ...

Clarke: Let us win together

Speech to Conservative Party Conference 2005

"I do not know about you, but I am fed up with our party losing elections.

We used to be members of a party that won elections. In fact, we won so many that we were able to change the political and economic landscape ...

Clarke: The Conservative Party and Public Services

Speech to the Centre for Social Justice

Introduction

"I am delighted to be making this speech at the Centre for Social Justice. Iain Duncan Smith has done politics in general a great service in setting it up, and Conservative politics in particular a favour by pursuing, in remarkable and personal ...

Clarke: The Governance of Britain in the 21st Century

Speech to the Centre for Policy Studies

"The Blair Government has lowered the standing of politics and politicians in our country. Opportunism, an obsession with style over substance and a scorn for Parliamentary government have debased British politics.

A British "presidency" has been created in No. 10. Too much power ...

Clarke: New Labour and the British Economy

Speech to Cass Business School

"A serious critique of the Government's wholly inadequate management of the economy is long overdue. The myth has got about that Gordon Brown is a very good Chancellor. The truth is that Gordon Brown's claimed economic success is an illusion.

Far from building ...

Clarke: United in our determination to defeat terrorism

Speech to the Foreign Press Association

"The disastrous decision to invade Iraq has made Britain a more dangerous place. The war did not create the danger of Islamic terrorism in this country, which had been growing internationally even before the tragedy of the attacks on 9/11. However the decision ...