I'm a Conservative who believes in lower taxes. They lead to a more enterprising economy. But I'm not somebody who believes you can fund lower taxes by borrowing more money.

I get a lot of letters from people.

Well you know I've attracted a lot of criticism by, for example, suggesting that child benefit should be taken away from higher rate taxpaying families.

Well can I just say unlike my predecessors, Conservative and Labour, I have set up an independent body that studies whether what I'm saying is true, whether I've met the targets that I set out.

I would say I have taken substantive action to make things easier for people.

You know the illusion of the cheap money is over and now Britain has to go out there and graft and earn its way and create wealth and prosperity in a very competitive world.

It's perfectly reasonable in a coalition between two political parties that you get supporters of those parties you know stressing the things they want to stress.

I reject absolutely the idea that people should know their place, and know their class.

Of all the public services, education is the one I'm most interested in. You get a more dynamic economy, you deal with most social problems, and it's morally right.

I think the British people are very, very attached to the idea that the health service is free at the point of use. But there is no reason why every doctor, nurse and teacher in this country has to be employed by the state.

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

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

I want to see genuine talent rewarded.

I want Britain to be the home of successful competitive and stable financial services.

Cutting budget deficits can never be just an exercise in economics.

I think the British people have a strong sense of what is fair.

You cannot tackle Britain's debts without tackling the unreformed welfare system.

I believe in public services.

Every day as Chancellor I see alerts telling me of risks around the world.

I think you can look at the British economy with confidence.

The positive news is that the British economy is continuing to grow and is creating jobs. And it is positive news too that at a time of real international instability we are a safe haven in the storm.

We need to think deeply about whether we can sustain banks that are not only too big to fail, but potentially too big to bail.

Unless they have disabilities to cope with, no family should get more from living on benefits than the average family gets from going out to work. No more open-ended chequebook.

I understand the damage the expenses crisis has done to Parliament, and the paramount importance of restoring trust in our politics.