Michael Portillo Quotes
I have liked trains since I was a boy, although I was never a train-spotter.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
People are obviously very interested in travel, including travel in Britain.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
It's a dilemma for every modern parent - how to keep children safe on social media without monitoring their every post.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
What is it about trains that makes food taste so good? Some of my happiest memories are of prolonged lunches between St. Moritz and Zurich, Bordeaux and Paris, and even between Coimbra and Salamanca.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
Ask anyone where they were when they heard of Diana's death, and they won't hesitate, because nobody can forget. Along with 9/11, it remains the most poleaxeing public event, news so shocking it made me shake, and drove everything else from my mind for days.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
If a prince marries a foreign princess, one to the manner born, he is being snobbish and old-fashioned. If he chooses a Diana or a Fergie, glamorous outsiders, they may never adapt to the restrictions of being Royal, with calamitous results.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
Personal responsibility matters.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
I hope I succeed in demonstrating that you may equally find compelling and significant narratives - stories that alter or add to our understanding of history - in unprepossessing places: a Victorian sewer system; a Cold War bunker; derelict hospitals.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
My eyes are at different levels, and my right ear's a bit bigger than my left - which showed up particularly in school photographs - so my mother used to call me her 'little Picasso.'
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
I do rather rejoice when people come up to talk to me about railways.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
As a presenter, you have to speak with artificial energy and enthusiasm.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
I don't know why, but I think the eating of food is hugely enhanced when you do it on a train. Even a simple steak and chips, when the world is rushing past outside, can take you to heaven.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
British-built railways in India helped the British to make money and maintain order and, as a by-product, served to unite the country, ripe for independence.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
Travelling the railways of Europe with a century-old guidebook can be disconcerting: fares, food, and drink seem shockingly expensive compared with what they were; trains and paddle-steamers run to unexpected timetables (assuming they're still running at all); and not only states but whole empires have been wiped from the map.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
For 'Portillo's Hidden History of Britain,' I arranged to meet men and women who were witnesses to history - ordinary people who were caught up in extraordinary events.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
Music turns the world upside down.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
I can never thoroughly appreciate meals on ships because, away from land, I feel my autonomy is restricted.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
What's extraordinary about Cobra Mist, and so much of what went on at Orford, was that the public were completely oblivious to it.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
One of the reasons that Thatcher promoted home ownership is that it promoted responsible citizens with a stake in society. But another reason was that those people would tend to be Conservative.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
People wear extraordinarily bright colours in India.
Michael Portillo
Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom