It comes up time and time again when you talk to people. They want a graffiti and rubbish-free environment in which they can feel safe. We have got to drive this forward.

This is a company that makes 25 per cent gross profit when the norm is 12 per cent. I am sure they could act very positively to make bus travel a more pleasurable experience.

The attitude in the past has been to increase taxes away above inflation and tell people to take it or leave it. We have to get back into the real world.

This is an issue which needs to be taken up. It is a lot of money and I am not happy about simply writing off the debts. We need to get in as quickly as possible as soon as we see there any problems.

The dream of a rebuilt New Street Station is slipping. I wish we were looking at a more simple solution, but it is now looking like a very long-term project for Birmingham.

It matters, it always matters, to name rubbish as rubbish … to do otherwise is to legitimize it."

Outside The Whale (Granta, 1984)