Quotes from Sam Gyimah

At the Oxford Union I'd never debated before but I gave it a go.

Leaving people worse off financially is a Brexit outcome nobody supports, whether they voted leave or remain.

The more painful incidents of racism I chose to forget, to suffer in silence, or use humour to deflect rather than confront. I didn't want to be the angry black man.

I am instinctively wary of identity politics. Ultimately, no two black men are the same, any more than two white men are the same.

I started thinking about getting into politics when David Cameron became leader.

The astonishing thing for me is that I had a career before politics and I never thought about my colour.

As a black member of parliament and minister for nearly a decade, I was determined not to be defined by my race. I didn't want to be 'the black politician', when being black is just a part of who I am.

Every election cycle there has been some manoeuvre against me, so at some level I am used to it.

Westminster is gripped by a fanatical race towards a cliff-edge Brexit and nobody is stopping to think about the impact it would have on the everyday lives of the people we serve as politicians.

It's a bit bold to go around saying, 'Prime Minister, if there's an opportunity I really want to be in this department,' but that's what I did.

Much of what we buy relies on products from the EU - purchases that British importers make in euros.

Ever since Theresa May's premiership, I have become suspicious of the 'lectern moment'. That is when the prime minister steps outside Downing Street to address the nation on Brexit.

Everyone who's rational should have an interest in science. The future of our planet depends on our understanding of science... It's something I value immensely.

One point leavers and remainers agree on is that if there had never been a referendum, and this deal had been proposed as the basis for our country's future, it would have rightly been rejected by parliament and the public.

The Tory Party only talks to Brexiteers. It almost demonises... It comes across as dismissive of those who are not.

Brexit is an immensely complex national challenge encompassing issues from sovereignty and trade to security in an increasingly interdependent world.

As a child, my mother would read to me late into the night. I didn't enjoy it at the time but she always used to say that the inheritance she was going to leave us was a good education.

Nothing of substance is being achieved or even proposed, while the country remains trapped in the Kafka-esque misery that Brexit has become.

Parliament is a tribal place. So the most difficult thing is to be labelled disloyal, even if you think you are standing up for a principle. The rejection is quite strong.

Born in the UK, brought up in Ghana, it was a sort of childhood of hardship and difficulty.

I was born in the UK and brought up by my single mother in Ghana, where being black was unexceptional. As an adult, I learnt to succeed in white Britain, going from a state sixth form, to Oxford university, to a well-paid job in the City, to becoming the first black Conservative MP to attend the cabinet.

The issue for me is not just Brexit. It is beyond Brexit - how you conduct politics and the veering towards populism and English nationalism.

Universities have a big role to play... making it very clear to their counterparts, their networks, that the U.K. is not walking away from the world. We still value multilateral cooperation, we still see the EU as a significant partner.

I've been involved in the Conservative party for two decades. I've fought for the party. I have an unusual background - I'm not your typical Tory recruit. I've spent a long time evangelising about why people should look at the Conservative party seriously.