I challenge the idea that films about rich people are escapism and films about working class people are dour and sad. I find the opposite's the case.

I don't think films about working class people are sad at all; I think they're funny and lively and invigorating and warm and generous and full of good things.

The far right was on the march in the 1930s, and we defeated the fascists through a great united working-class effort. That sense of unity and strength is what gave people confidence to change things.

If you have a society where a large section believe they are not part of the political discourse, that is a situation for trouble.

In general I think that in art you only have the responsibility to tell the truth.

I think that cinema is medium of communication. It's as valid as novels or fine art.

If change is to come, it must come from the working class. That's why telling their story is important. That's why knowing our history is important.

The most enjoyable things are the old eighteenth-century terraces that are still standing, that domestic architecture.

The Holocaust is as real a historical event as World War II itself and not to be challenged.

The most enjoyable things are the old eighteenth-century terraces that are still standing, that domestic architecture.