Michael Portillo Quotes

Anybody who enjoys being in the House of Commons probably needs psychiatric help.

Most Canadians don't understand the House of Commons. They turn on their televisions, see us yelling at one another, and dismiss us as a bunch of fools.

It is often quite impossible to gauge the mood of the Chamber in advance, particularly on big occasions. One moment, it is relaxed and good-humoured; at the next, it can be angry and querulous, and the House in this mood can be a formidable arena.

The House Of Commons has never been a tea-party. It consists of strong-minded, often very idealistic people, who are trying to accomplish something for our country. We are inheritors of an adversarial system and that, in itself, fosters conflict.

I was leader of the Opposition when Vajpayee was PM. We attacked policies, not personalities, neither inside or outside the House.

In Westminster, I make sure I maximise my ability to represent my constituents. I can do that in a variety of ways: by asking written questions or questions in the House of Commons, through the scrutiny of bills and by sitting on the environmental audit select committee every week, as well as other committees.

As all Members of Parliament know, the ease and flow of making a speech outside the House is not at all the same as that required in the Chamber.

Labour believes that every trade deal should come before parliament for a full debate on the floor of the House of Commons, with a vote at the end of that debate.

I'm very aware of how quickly my career could end.

I'm proud of Congress as a body. At the end of the day, we're the people's house, and we should be very mindful that we represent the people.

One good outcome of elections is that fresh talent comes into the House of Commons.

We're allowed to say wonderful things about the Royal Family in the House of Commons. What you're not allowed to say is: anything that might be truthful, but that might upset them. So from time to time I've been pulled up because I've said things which I think are important.

It should be mandatory that any tax breaks go through appropriate committees and be voted on separately by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

We can and must support our MPs in doing the job they will be elected to do: to hold the government to account in order to do what's best for Britain.

Parliament's job is to conduct discussions. But many a time, Parliament is used to ignore issues, and in such situations, obstruction of Parliament is in the favour of democracy. Therefore, parliamentary obstruction is not undemocratic.

Britain is a parliamentary democracy. Power rests in Parliament, in the House of Commons, and the government - the executive - has to seek the consent of MPs for its legislation.

We work in a business where you feel you always have to say yes because you never know when you will work again. But I found myself questioning that paranoia, which I'd grown up with ever since I started working in the theatre in my late teens.

Sometimes I liken the comedian's lifestyle a little bit to a firefighter's in the sense that there's a lot of waiting and a lot of nothingness. And then there are moments of urgent firefighting.

The government takes the opposition day debates incredibly seriously.

We got sacked for the first time when we were just 18 and you realise that this whole industry is transient and changeable.

The first time you go out and perform at WrestleMania, it's a very challenging thing. It's the showcase of immortals, and you don't know what to expect, and every WrestleMania is different.

Parliamentarian rules, the rules of the House, how you get bills referred, really the nuts and bolts that most members don't ever want to know because it's a lot of work. But that's what really makes you successful.

I want to finish my career in Seattle but it's rocky.

I think in coaching you just expect it to end at some point by being let go or by being fired. It's just kind of the nature of the business, so I've never really focused on that. I'm just trying to focus on doing the job as well as I can.

I won't say I'll never go back to a soap because an actor's life is so precarious. You can have the most wonderful patch where everyone wants to work with you, and in the blink of an eye the phone won't ring for a month, even a year.