Some notable quotes of the week

Picking up an award at the The Oldie of the Year Awards lunch at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand earlier this week, Sir John Major joshed: “I hadn’t realised I was qualified for this Oldie award until I was woken up during lunch. It is a very odd thing, age. Your perspectives change, sometimes your opinions change – actually almost everything changes – usually heading southwards. There was a time when life expectancy was 25, it’s now over 80 and rising, and, with transplants, we may never die, and the Chancellor’s fiscal predictions will go to hell in a handcart and he will be hoping for a little more ill health.”

Prince Charles visiting Somerset this week was asked by a reporter whether the Environment Agency had not done enough. Quick as a flash and word-perfect, our future King replied: “You might very well think that; I couldn’t possibly comment.”

Veteran politician Jack Straw has announced his retirement after 40 years in parliament. Reflecting on Labour’s record, immigration and Edward Snowden, he said: ‘I don’t often think I’m really bad at anything’.

Vince Cable said the greater stability offered by Britain’s established financial system and regulation would tempt the bank [RBS] to move its base to England. He said: “I think if you were managing RBS you would almost certainly want to be in a domicile where your bank is protected against the risk of collapse,” Cable told a panel of lawmakers. I think they already have a substantial amount of their management in London and I would have thought that inevitably they would become a London bank.”

Former Australian spin bowler Shane Warne leapt to Kevin Petersen’s defence, calling the decision [by the ECB to sack England’s best player] a disgrace: “I also just heard the sad news re KP that he has played his last game for England, to me it’s a disgrace & a joke! The ECB is in a shambles”.

The Leeds United manager Brian McDermott who returned to the club’s training ground on Monday morning just days after it appeared he had been sacked, said. “I got a phone call to say my contract was to be terminated, I was to receive a letter, and that was it. I still haven’t received it. We came into Saturday, I got a phone call… I saw the statement that I was back as Leeds manager for the first time on my iPad, which was interesting.”

David Cameron, on the outcome of September’s Scottish independence referendum, said: It’s still up in the air”. Pro-union campaigners have seven months to save the most extraordinary country in history.”