David Lammy Quotes

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David Lammy

Profession : Politician

Birth : July 19, 1972

White supremacy is not confined to strange men in the Deep South who put on white cloaks, it is not confined to strange gatherings of the English Defence League.

David Lammy

Football is a great way for me to catch up with my sons, and to let off some steam from my professional life.

David Lammy

Like many black men growing up in London, I have been stopped and searched by several policemen. I was 12 years old when I was first groped and frisked by police for walking down the road. It terrified me so much I wet myself.

David Lammy

I grew up under Thatcher; the era of apartheid; the era of the poll tax; the era of riots. I remember Neil Kinnock was a hero.

David Lammy

I think that's always something when you're working class, when you're aware of things that you haven't had; there are moments when you question yourself, definitely.

David Lammy

I'd always been the kind of lawyer that was attracted back to policy.

David Lammy

If you're in the business of law you're in the business of representation and precedent.

David Lammy

I've got a very full life beyond my career.

David Lammy

I'm not one of those people for which politics is my sole preoccupation.

David Lammy

My wife does all the driving.

David Lammy

Too much of the Brexit rhetoric is based on the desire to go out and re-create Empire.

David Lammy

People don't contest that I'm British as a black man, but they do contest that I'm English. Too many people are going back to an ethnocentric idea of what being English means.

David Lammy

We need specific work on race equality programmes and programmes targeted at helping those who are yet to fulfil their potential.

David Lammy

Many black youths are defying stereotypes, achieving good academic results, finding employment and contributing to their communities. But helping those who fall behind is not an exercise in political correctness, it is a precisely what a compassionate - and sensible - state should concern itself with.

David Lammy

Fathers need to be made aware of their responsibilities - and that's up to all of us to communicate, as parents, as politicians and as members of a community.

David Lammy

Parenting is more than a numbers game: it's a question of whether people are equipped for the toughest job they will ever be asked to do.

David Lammy

Cities can be paradoxical places. In the mornings they buzz with commuters, in the evenings they come alive with diners and partygoers, at weekends the streets fill with shoppers and market traders. But amidst the hustle and bustle, even the greatest city can be a lonely place.

David Lammy

For even the most seasoned observers of American politics, Barack Obama is a phenomenon.

David Lammy

People 'demand' the opportunity to gamble away money they do not have, just like people 'demand' money from loan sharks at extortionate interest rates. This is a warped, empty type of freedom, in which the powerful are free to exploit the vulnerable.

David Lammy

My biggest fear growing up was that I would end up in prison. That was the fate of growing numbers of my peers.

David Lammy