10 of the best Gordon Brown speeches from his time as PM and beyond

Today’s announcement by Gordon Brown gives us a chance to reflect not just on his extraordinary legacy but the body of thinking he leaves behind. Here’s a personal top 10 from his time as PM and beyond:

1) Never let them tell you politics can’t make a difference

Addressing Labour Party conference in 2009:

‘That’s the Britain we’ve been building together, that’s the change we choose’

2) ’No’ as the progressive, positive, patriotic choice for Scotland

Addressing the people of Scotland before the independence referendum in 2014:

‘What we have built together through struggle and sacrifice, let no narrow nationalism pull asunder’

3) Faith in the future

Addressing the US Congress in 2009:

‘Sometimes the defining moments of history come suddenly and without warning. And the task of leadership then is to define them, shape them and move forward into the new world they demand’

4) Madiba taught us to live – and act – in hope

On the anniversary of Mandela’s release in 2010:

‘The lesson of the South African struggle is surely that change never comes without a fight, but when we fight, progressives can change the course of history’

5) Markets need morals

Addressing St Paul’s Cathedral on the eve of the G20 summit in 2009:

‘The virtues that all of us here admire most … are not the values that spring from the market; they are the values we bring to the market’

6) A unique contribution to turning the tide of war

Apologising to Alan Turing in 2009:

‘It is thanks to people like Alan Turing that the horrors of the Holocaust and of total war are part of Europe’s history and not Europe’s present’

7) The strength of a movement

Addressing Citizens UK in 2010:

‘You can’t always make the headlines, but you can always make the difference’

8) Faith in politics

Addressing Lambeth Palace in 2011:

‘Faith offers a way for people to come together to deliberate as neither producer nor consumer, neither leader nor led, but simply as humans, in fellowship with one another, gazing upon the eternal with awe’

9) Choosing hope

Reflecting on his trip to Auschwitz in 2009:

‘We honour the dead by celebrating life’

10) A new global ethic

Addressing TED in 2009:

‘There is a moral sense across all religions, faiths and continents that not only do we share the pain of others, we have a duty to act when we see things that are wrong’