Sheila Munro, via e-mailA teabag, boiling water, saccharin and milk There's nothing much in it I am teetotal and vegetarian, so I do live on tea. I don't like Earl Grey tea, but it may be class prejudice against earls, as I don't believe in all that, rather than the tea itself.What chance is there that left-wingers in the Labour Party will regain some of their influence under a Gordon Brown leadership? Colin Jennings, via e-mailMy experience is that movements should make changes. I think the line that the democratic left have pursued - that you need strong, politically involved trade unions, and to widen the range of democratic control, not just in the vote but in industry - has got the potential for change.I would love to know your perfected method of making a good cuppa. I'm afraid that I've reached a point where I don't feel under any obligation to believe what I'm told by the Prime Minister, and that's never happened in my life before.To what do you attribute the drift to the right, and is there any way for us ordinary socialists to help to reverse it? Chris Lewis, Via e-mailThe Reagan-Thatcher years were a counter-revolution against democracy - local government was crushed, trade unions attacked, democracy itself was eroded. But I didn't believe Bush and I didn't believe Blair either, I believed Hans Blix [the UN weapons inspector]. I had a long talk in Baghdad with Dr Amir Al-Saadi, the guy who dealt with Blix, and what he told me corresponded to what the Iraq Survey Group, set up by Bush, reported [ie no evidence of WMDs].
An interest in it is an advantage, but you still have to prove that you can represent people and be trusted.Did you really believe Saddam Hussein when he told you that Iraq didn't have any WMDs? Jatinder Patel, ManchesterNo, I didn't believe him. Is politics in your genes? Brian Montague, via e-mailI met Ramsay MacDonald when I was five, Gandhi when I was six, and Lloyd-George when I was 12, and my interests have always been political My son was also brought up in a political household. She would have been shattered by the attack on New York, totally opposed to the war against Afghanistan and Iraq, and would have supported the peace movement in the United States.Your father and grand-fathers were politicians, your son is Secretary of State for International Development, and he thinks that his 12-year-old has a political gift. Whether he ran out of stamps or lost my address, I don't know.Your wife Caroline was an American and a socialist. How do you think she would have reacted to the Bush administration? Jamal Connors, ExeterCaroline did live to see Bush elected the first time, and died a few days later I know exactly how she would have reacted. One man wrote to me once and said, "I'm going to kill you 12 months from today", and then 11, and 10, and nine, then it got to a month and then "two weeks from today" Then he never wrote again. I was so pleased - I haven't had one for years.How does it feel to go from being public enemy to national treasure? Frances Morrison, LiverpoolThe death threat proved that it hasn't happened I was chuffed about it.
I won't say I was happy, because death threats are not very pleasant. Unfortunately, Harold's dead now so you can't ask him either There were some nasty things said of Harold, too Everybody has nasty things said about them I got a death threat the other day. Why did he say that, and is it true? Peter Goldenberg, LondonDon't ask me why he said it. The movement that set up the Labour Party needs to have a strong defence not only of the interests of working people but also those in the party who are trying to build a better society.Prime Minister Harold Wilson once said that you had "immatured with age".