My dad was this pint-sized Nigerian with an oversized personality. My mother is a tall six foot something Irish-English woman. Us walking down the street was quite an unusual sight, when I was growing up.

Some people welcome the flexibility of a zero-hours contract. But their growth is symptomatic of a wider issue - increasing job insecurity and falling living standards in David Cameron's Britain.

It was a Labour prime minister who appointed the first black male and female cabinet ministers.

My father was a rags-to-riches businessman who came over in the Sixties with no money. On my mother's side, I am the grandson of a High Court judge and celebrated intelligence officer, so it's quite an unusual combination.

Ideology, politics and journalism, which luxuriate in failure, are impotent in the face of hope and joy.

I always tell my students: I don't care which side you're on. I respect you too much to try to persuade you in 120 minutes a week, much less lure you into pretending that you agree with me. All I want is for you to own this democracy, to see yours, to have a stake in it.

Public policy has been a passion of mine. For three decades, I've had some involvement in the political process.

The most important point is, in a time of crisis, there is no way out but for the government to be bold and aggressive.