Quotes of the week

I can vaguely remember him, but he was not a pretty boy.

Sherborne old boy talking of David Spedding, new head of MI6

As far as I was concerned I had read enough to satisfy myself that these documents were relevant and should not be withheld.

Michael Heseltine, telling the Scott inquiry why he at first refused to sign a so-called 'gagging order' in the Matrix Churchill arms-to-Iraq trial

He was a genius, but the trouble with geniuses is that in the end they come to believe that the rules of behaviour that apply to ordinary people don't apply to them.

Britt Ekland, on her first husband, Peter Sellers

It is still a profoundly important relationship.

Bill Clinton, commenting on US- UK ties during John Major's visit

I believe the prospects for peace (in Northern Ireland) are better now than they have been for many, many years.

John Major in New York

I am not too badly paid.

Lord Weinstock, managing director of GEC currently on a salary of pounds 600,000 a year