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It is a relief to be out - Ellenor Hutson, 16, from Colchester, emerging after five days in a tunnel dug by protesters trying to stop work on the A30 road improvement scheme near Exeter

The English have an incredible appetite for serfdom. They are unique in that they abolished slavery 150 years before they abolished serfdom - Norman Stone, retiring Professor of Modern History at Oxford University

Sleaze is more than a lurid headline. It signifies the total collapse of public confidence in government and all its dealings - Derek Foster, shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

Every decent Essex household has a garden gnome. Where I once had a beautiful porch, I have Lady Thatcher on the right and John Major on the left. Peering through the window is Kinnock - Teresa Gorman, Tory MP

One of those hassles in life is that no one understands the difference between a viscount and a lord - Viscount Thurso

We often deride the popular press for being simplistic and vulgar, but it is so often an accurate barometer of the nation's mood. I shall certainly keep taking the tabloids - Lord Taylor of Warwick

I am appalled by the flat ease with which my reputation as a scholar and my integrity as a human being is impugned - Professor Patricia Williams, of Columbia University, New York, this year's much-criticised BBC Reith Lecturer