It will appear evident upon attentive consideration that equality of intellectual and physical advantages is the only sure foundation of liberty and that such equality may best and perhaps only be obtained by a union of interests and cooperation in labor.

We will have bigger bureaucracies bigger labor unions and bigger state-run corporations. It will be harder to be an entrepreneur because of punitive taxes and regulations. The rewards of success will be expropriated for the sake of attaining greater income equality.

The unionists also for their part want to minimise the potential for change not only on the equality agenda but on the issues of sovereignty and ending the union.

Republican patience with how unionism deals with the political institutions and with key issues like equality and human rights will be tested because obviously there will be a battle a day on these matters. So lets face up to all of this with our eyes wide open.

The perfection of our union especially our commitment to equality of opportunity has been a story of constant striving to live up to our Founding principles. This is what Abraham Lincoln meant when he said 'In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free - honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve.'

And what is liberty whose very name makes the heart beat faster and shakes the world? Is it not the union of all liberties - liberty of conscience of education of association of the press of travel or labor or trade?

I think that much of this was running in background as I contemplated whether or not to attend the PS 99 reunion although I certainly anticipated that I would not it smelled like death not youth.

Every parting is a form of death as every reunion is a type of heaven.

Every parting gives a foretaste of death every reunion a hint of the resurrection.

My dad grew up in a working-class Jewish neighbourhood and I got a scholarship from my dad's union to go to college. I went there to get an education not as an extension of privilege.

Because with courage and conviction I believe we can deliver a more flexible adaptable and open European Union in which the interests and ambitions of all its members can be met.

As somebody who in my second marriage insisted on a prenuptial agreement I can also testify that sometimes it is an act of love to chart the exit strategy before you enter the union in order to make sure that not only you but your partner as well knows that there will be no World War III should hearts and minds for any sad reason change.

The biggest danger to the European Union comes not from those who advocate change but from those who denounce new thinking as heresy. In its long history Europe has experience of heretics who turned out to have a point.

We have the character of an island nation: independent forthright passionate in defence of our sovereignty. We can no more change this British sensibility than we can drain the English Channel. And because of this sensibility we come to the European Union with a frame of mind that is more practical than emotional.

My first car was a 1976 Toyota Corolla Liftback in red like the one in 'The Blues Brothers.' I painted a Union Jack on the roof. I was absolutely in love with it until I destroyed it which broke my heart!

My view is that you still in order to win from the Labour perspective have to have a strong alliance with business as well as the unions. You have got to be very much in the centre ground on things like public sector reform.

I propose that the government should get out of the business of marrying people and instead only give legal status to civil unions.

People drain me even the closest of friends and I find loneliness to be the best state in the union to live in.

The unions say 'last hired - first fired ' we say hire and fire based on merit. We want the best and brightest in the classroom.

The union movement has been the best middle class job creating program that America has ever had and it doesn't cost the government a dime.

Rare is the union of beauty and purity.

Hence within the space of two generations there has been a complete revolution in the attitude of the trades-unions toward the women working in their trades.

The chances of a reunion now are less likely. I was thinking of having a 40th anniversary of the band but now they are really another band so it's all a bit weird.

Experts on romance say for a happy marriage there has to be more than a passionate love. For a lasting union they insist there must be a genuine liking for each other. Which in my book is a good definition for friendship.