Michael Portillo : (5)

" For someone like me, making a documentary – I don’t kid myself. There’s no influence at all. What I do is entertainment. I would even say much the same about the column I write in ‘The Sunday Times.’ " - Michael Portillo

" Wagner had a terrific understanding of politics. In 1829, he was a Marxist revolutionary who wanted to bring down the establishment. He hated religion and churches, which he said enslaved people. But he later developed different views that put art at the centre of the life of the state. " - Michael Portillo

" We in Britain do not have the same capabilities as the United States, but we are members of the United Nations Security Council. And we take our obligations and duties deriving from that very seriously. " - Michael Portillo

" I don’t think I’ve got a thick skin, but I’ve not felt particularly humiliated by the things which people think I would have felt humiliated by, such as losing my seat in 1997 and not being elected leader in 2001. In the second case, I felt relieved. " - Michael Portillo

" For all those who experienced it, the Spanish Civil War was devastating. " - Michael Portillo