"Gun crime is a major cause of fear and distress throughout the UK. The problem is deeply entrenched in a wide range of social and cultural factors and therefore not an isolated issue."

"You can't defend the indefensible - anything you say sounds self-serving and hypocritical."

"My London constituency in Hackney has one of the highest levels of gun crime in the country. But the problem is no longer confined to inner city areas. Gun crime has spread to communities all over Britain."

"My mother liked Jim Reeves. I hated his records. He was unbearable."

"The honest truth is that if this government were to propose the massacre of the first-born, it would still have no difficulty in getting it through the Commons."