Tony Blair Quotes

On form of government, there should be checks and balances, and PM should be responsible to Parliament.

We demand that the House of Representatives shall again become a deliberative body, controlled by the majority of the people's Representatives and not be the Speaker ...

In all legislative assemblies, the greater the number composing them may be, the fewer will be the men who will in fact direct their proceedings.

The Government should be prepared to consider the Charter in Parliament. There is no wisdom in letting complaints be rejected and pikes made

No member ought to be compelled to go to another man, his equal and no more, a representative of a constituency no whit superior to his own, and ask for the poor privilege of calling his measure to the attention of the House.

The greatest single virtue of a strong legislature is not what it can do, but what it can prevent.

I take my 'advice and consent' duty as a U.S. senator very seriously.

The House of Commons is called the Lower House, in twenty Acts of Parliament; but what are twenty Acts of Parliament amongst Friends?

It would be wholly wrong constitutionally for the unelected House of Lords to do anything, to kill anything of a financial nature that has been through the House of Commons not once but twice.

My job is to enforce the laws as passed by whom? Congress. They give me my authority. That's the jurisdictional responsibilities that I have, and when litigation is used to regulate... that's abusive. That's wrong.

Dialogue is the essence of parliamentary politics.

Congress passes statutes, and those statutes are very clear on the job EPA has to do.

Congress is where Americans are supposed to have our big, messy political fights. That's because the people who make the laws need to be hired and fired by the people. Don't like the laws? Fire the lawmakers.

When I went up to Glasgow University in 1967, student life was dominated by 13-hour debates on Fridays, when one of the student political clubs would form the 'government' for the day and attempt to push through a piece of legislation, which the other clubs either supported or opposed.

Speaker Boehner has said many times that the House of Representatives is the closest institution to the people, and he recognizes that by empowering the members to have direct input into the process.

I would say that of many, many difficult aspects of my job as speaker, presiding over a debate on a bill that has an emotional aspect to it on both sides is the most challenging thing that I can think of.

Usually, even when a bill draws extreme opinions, there can be a process of expression and negotiation.

The government takes the opposition day debates incredibly seriously.

I think the thing that's impressed me the most has been the fantastic professionalism of the officials in the Senate.

Congress must control their MLAs.

I think what we have to do is speak about the issues and speak about my record.

During their tenure, the elected representatives of the people walk with the gods. And it is only when an election is announced that they realise it is the people in their constituencies, with whom they have not really bothered to keep in touch, who will decide their fate.

Our responsibility is to focus on the House. The Senate's the Senate.

We critique all politicians who are in power, whenever there's a talking point.

Elections exist for the sake of the House of Commons and not the House of Commons for the sake of elections.