Quotes from George Osborne

There are always ways to make government better, always ways to make sure that the taxes of people are better spent.

I came into politics partly because I want to be able to reduce taxes so that individuals have more of their money to spend, so that businesses have more of their money to create jobs, but I believe that lower taxes are sustainable when you get the public finances in order, so I will only make promises I can keep on taxation.

Believe me, I understand that most higher rate taxpayers are not the super-rich.

Tax cuts should be for life, not just for Christmas.

We must bring unity of spirit and purpose and condemn hatred and division wherever we see it.

I think Britain can be one of the great success stories of the 21st century - we've got the talent, the drive, the connections around the world. But if we vote to Leave, then we lose control. We lose control of our economy, and if you lose control of your economy you lose control of everything. That's not a price worth paying.

The rise in world oil prices has been larger than anyone forecast.

I'm a very happy, content member of David Cameron's team. I fought very hard to get my friend elected as leader of the Conservative party, then elected as the prime minister of this country, and I'm very happy being part of that team that is bringing change to this country.

I serve at the discretion of the prime minister.

Britain has no divine right to be one of the richest countries in the world.

One of London's massive strengths is its sporting prowess, its great football teams.

A generous basic state pension is the least a civilized society should offer those who have worked hard and saved through their whole lives.

I want Britain to be a global financial centre but I want it to be properly regulated.

It was the Conservatives who first protected people in the mills.

I'm tempted to say that Conservative governments are normally elected to clear up the mess left by Labour governments.

I first started going to Chelsea games in the mid-Nineties when I lived off the North End Road, ten minutes' walk from Stamford Bridge.

Britain can choose, as others are, short term fixes and more stimulus. Or we can lead the world with long-term solutions to long-term problems.

We need strength and success elsewhere in our country - not by pulling London down but by building the rest of the country up.

ISIL are already using the Internet for hideous propaganda purposes - for radicalisation, for operational planning, too.

We have accepted there is a big role for government to create a framework where businesses can grow in all parts of the country.

Frankly, people buying a home to let should not be squeezing out families who can't afford a home to buy.

Tony Blair was a good politician but not a good Prime Minister, and that's what we don't want to be. We don't want to be just people who are good at winning elections: we want to be good at governing. I think we benefit from having seen the mistakes that we think Tony Blair made in 1997.

There was a real fear that a euro-zone bank might fail, that we'd have a sovereign debt problem in one of the larger European economies. That's dissipated, thanks largely to the action of the European Central Bank.

We are not quitters. Britain has always gone out there; we have probably been more influential than any other country in shaping our world and the way it has thought about itself, the way we interact as nations.