Today hundreds of millions dwell in freedom from the Baltic to the Adriatic from the Western Approaches to the Aegean. And while we must never take this for granted the first purpose of the European Union - to secure peace - has been achieved and we should pay tribute to all those in the EU alongside Nato who made that happen.

What Churchill described as the twin marauders of war and tyranny have been almost entirely banished from our continent. Today hundreds of millions dwell in freedom from the Baltic to the Adriatic from the Western Approaches to the Aegean.

In the literal sense there has been no relevant evolution since the trek from Africa. But there has been substantial progress towards higher standards of rights justice and freedom - along with all too many illustrations of how remote is the goal of a decent society.

What we have at present is a system of loss socialism. Whatever goes wrong is shouldered by the general public and anything that works is privatised. Worshippers of market freedom have suspended the most important economic principle: Risk and liability go hand in hand.

America is just the country that how all the written guarantees in the world for freedom are no protection against tyranny and oppression of the worst kind. There the politician has come to be looked upon as the very scum of society.

Hero-worship is strongest where there is least regard for human freedom.

True human goodness in all its purity and freedom can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power.

Man cannot be free if he does not know that he is subject to necessity because his freedom is always won in his never wholly successful attempts to liberate himself from necessity.

The Ego is partly free. partly determined and reaches fuller freedom by approaching the Individual who is most free: God.

A lot of people out there pay good lip service to the idea of personal freedom... right up to the point that someone tries to do something that they don't personally approve of.