In an era of billion-person countries and trillion-pound economies, we need to find ways to amplify our voice. We are most likely to be heard when the Chinese negotiate with a £10 trillion E.U., not a £1.5 trillion Britain.
It was here in Edinburgh that in the 1980s I joined with many others to protest against Margaret Thatcher as she arrived to address the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Change is a process: future is a destination. People want a sense of hope, possibility and pride about Britain.
A politics that defines itself by difference holds no appeal for me.
Solidarity is the basis of my politics.
I don't get up in the morning and think my mission is to end Britain. I do get up in the morning and think that my mission is to end poverty.
We can have enhanced devolution - greater powers in Scotland - but within the strength, security and stability of the United Kingdom, and I think that's what most Scots want.
One of the big weaknesses of the Conservative Party is not just their ignorance of and lack of effective response to the cost-of-living crisis but a more fundamental error about what makes for success in the 21st century.
We'll set our approach to borrowing, to spending, to taxation, in a sensible way on a sensible timescale.
The Conservatives are so busy focusing on yesterday, they're not focused on tomorrow... on how elections are won in the 21st century.
If Nick Clegg hadn't been sitting around the cabinet table, we wouldn't have had the bedroom tax; we wouldn't have had the rise in tuition fees. We wouldn't have had the mistakes we've seen in economic policy.
I take UKIP very seriously. The truth is that UKIP presents an electoral challenge to all political parties. The way to defeat UKIP is not to be a better UKIP but to be a better Labour Party.
The depth of concern people feel about UKIP is not always matched by depth of understanding.
Of course we need to show we are a genuine alternative to an unpopular, Conservative-led government. But we need to set ourselves a higher standard than a party offering anger like UKIP.
Of course we are looking to win support across every section of society. We win support by speaking to voters on the issues they most care about.
I've never been interested in self-promotion and that side of politics; and if that means people judge that you're less prominent than others, that's a choice I've been willing to make.
Any politician in a democracy has to be mindful of public opinion.
David Cameron can change the branding of the party, but he can't change the beliefs.
My general approach to opposition is where the government is getting something right, we should say so. And where we disagree with them, we should say so, too.
Newspapers can make their own judgment in terms of who they support in a general election. Our responsibility is to make a considered judgment about where the national interest lies.
