Charles Clarke, former Home Secretary: You ask the questions

Was your website launch with Alan Milburn any more than a thinly disguised attempt to stop Gordon Brown becoming PM? OLIVER JUDD, London

Yes. The launch was not about "stopping Gordon Brown" but about promoting serious policy and political discussion about the best way for Labour to win the next general election. We'll only win if we convey a vision for Britain in 2020, and we need to consider what that is and how we get there.

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If your new website was an attempt to kickstart a policy debate, why didn't you suggest any policy ideas when you launched it? KEVIN EMPEY, Leeds

www.the2020vision.org.uk refers to speeches and articles with lots of policy ideas, including Tony Robinson's blog on the needs of the elderly.

Do you want Gordon Brown to succeed Tony Blair? PERRY GRAY, Manchester

I'll take that decision when we have a leadership election.

Do you like Gordon Brown? ALAN BROWN, Surbiton

Yes.

Is the Chancellor "psychologically flawed"? , ALAN WALTERS, by email

No, at least no more than most people. And by the way that wasn't my phrase.

Will you stand for the Labour leadership? J DIXON, Basingstoke

Unlikely but not impossible.

Would you like to see David Miliband step forward as a challenger for the Labour leadership? MIKE MCCARTHY, London

Yes, I think that he'd be a good candidate and a good prime minister. Unlike David Cameron, he's got good ministerial experience in a tough spending department.

Do you think Gordon Brown would run an inclusive government of "all the talents"? CHRIS ORLANDI, Glasgow

I think that he'd need to and should try to do so. But it's easier said than done.

Which of the candidates for the Labour Party deputy leadership are you backing? GUY DENMAN, by email

None. I shan't nominate anyone and will decide who to vote for when I see the final field. I very much regret that so many candidates have entered the race before there's a vacancy, as I've said to them.

Is David Cameron a threat or an opportunity? SAYED BAKRI, London

Both. Because he's superficially plausible he'll be a threat unless we think properly and get our act together to face the future. But if we do get our act together that surface credibility will dissolve, which will be a great opportunity for Labour to secure long-term political strength as the Tories collapse still further.

How do you think history will judge Tony Blair? , BEN FIELDING by email

As a great prime minister who changed this country for the better, but failed to make the most of his opportunities.

What do you view as the biggest mistakes Blair has made in government? DAVID MARSHALL, Northampton

Not to have consistent and coherent programmes of reform in the public sector, not to promote green politics vigorously and not to nail his flag more strongly to the mast of working with the EU, to make it more internationally active with the UK at the core. If you are trying to tempt me on the subject of Iraq, I think that Saddam was a threat and that it was right to remove him by force. We will never know but I don't believe that life in Iraq would have been better, or the world safer, if we had done nothing.

Is the Home Office now "fit for purpose"? , VICKY MURTHA, Bristol

I always thought that the "not fit for purpose" phrase demoralised and demotivated and was certainly not true for the whole department, where some bits are absolutely excellent, others aren't up to standard. Many changes in personnel and organisation were in the pipeline when I left and are having positive effects now.

Did you feel betrayed by Tony Blair when sacked as Home Secretary? CHRIS QUIGLEY, London

Betrayed is the wrong word. I felt disappointed and let down, and I think that Tony Blair made a serious political mistake. When he asked me to continue as Home Secretary in May 2005 I told him I thought that it would take three or four years to get the Home Office right and that many problems would emerge which we would have to address together. I was therefore sorry that the long-running foreign national prisoners issue surfaced in the explosive context of local elections, an impending reshuffle and continued leadership speculation. But that's politics. And, as I always said, the Prime Minister had the right to take the decision that he did.

Do you feel any sense of satisfaction that Home Office problems have continued even after your departure? NADEEM KHAN, London

None at all, but I am very sorry that important reforms, for example of the police, have been abandoned and I regret that some decisions appear to be driven by the desire to secure tabloid approval, rather than consistent policy objectives.

Why do Labour home secretaries have to turn into such loathsome hardliners, as we saw again this week with John Reid's shameful words about foreigners stealing our benefits? ANTONIA FOX, Brighton

They don't, and I didn't. Media pressure is always a reality and home secretaries do need broad shoulders and political courage to deal with that. I tried to set out a path for the progressive reform which is desperately needed in prison and probation and that remains necessary.

Do you think politicians should set a lead in changing their lifestyles as we confront global warming? And what have you done? KEVIN LEWIS, Hackney

No, but I think everyone should do what they can. I have tried to reduce my carbon footprint by driving a smaller car, and by more walking and travelling by Tube and train.

What was John Reid like when you and he worked for Neil Kinnock? PETER LEGGE, Oxford

Intelligent, committed, amusing and usually full of good judgement.

Should Tony Blair's successor adopt a more balanced foreign policy without slavishly supporting the US? DAVE FELTZ, Harrow

There's never been anything slavish and all foreign policy should be balanced.

Has George Bush ruined Tony Blair's legacy? TIM HAMERSLEY, Bath

No. Tony Blair bears responsibility for Tony Blair's acts.

Would you like to return to government? K DAVISON, Derbyshire

Yes if I could play a useful role.

How do you think the Liberal Democrat leader is doing? SIMON DALEY by email

Not very well, but not because of his age. Opposition leadership is about policy, organisation and communication and I don't think he's very good on any of them.

Were you wrong to attack the classics, as anyone studying the subject would have easily foreseen the trouble we are having in Iraq and Afghanistan? PAUL MASON, Teddington

Contrary to frequent misreports, I didn't attack the classics and am a strong supporter of the study of history. Foreseeing trouble in Iraq and Afghanistan was not difficult. Overcoming it is.

Do you believe the Iraq war has increased the risk of terrorism in the UK? MATT O'CONNELL, Reading

No, though it's offered an excuse to some.

Which do you think poses the greatest threat to our liberal democratic way of life: acts of terrorism or legislative reaction to the perceived threat of terror? COLM NUGENT by email

Acts of terrorism, without a doubt.

Do you think the Government should be doing more to combat Britain's obesity crisis? PAUL FARRELL, Birmingham

Yes through education, but it's fundamentally down to individual behaviour.

Do you really feel comfortable with the idea of supercasinos? MARILYN HUTCHINGS, Swansea

No, but I do think that it's better to regulate and tax gambling rather than to drive it underground.

Why were you called Biggles at school? FRED THOMPSON, Hampstead

I've no idea and I'm not sure that it's true.

Why don't you get rid of that stupid stubble and lose some weight? GILLIAN COX by email

I'm sure you think that telegenic good looks ought to be a requirement for the modern cloned politician and I'm sorry not to fit your mould.

What would you look like without your beard? Would you shave it off for a charitable donation? MARK NILSSON, London

I have shaved it off a couple of times but my family's response was a long way short of rapturous. I wouldn't shave it off for charity.

Is it true that you were once so hungry that you ate two whole pizzas at Pizza Express? DESMOND HEAL, Manchester

I don't think so. It's one of those malicious rumours that once started can't be stopped.

Did you really go to a Swiss finishing school? NICOLA MORRIS, Bristol

No, that's another one. It was invented by the Indy's Matthew Norman for reasons I do not comprehend.