I first learned the power of a Labour government to transform lives growing up in my hometown of Stockport.

We can't have children growing up feeling unloved - the price is too high for that.

Growing up without love, without being cared for, might be the worst type of poverty.

My mother suffers mental health problems and has a learning deprivation.

We should try to ensure that everyone has a fair opportunity to find a great life. It's a quest that will require political will and ingenious policies. President Obama's proposed expansion of the earned-income tax credit goes in this direction, but we need more.

The central bank needs to be able to make policy without short term political concerns.

Authentic apology is a tricky thing to pull off in politics, which is why it so seldom occurs. Plausible deniability must be preserved. True contrition has to be displayed. Traitors to the cause must be immediately be jettisoned. Most of all, the goal is to stop the bleeding.

Throughout his remarkable business and government career, Robert Rubin, now 65, has both worked exhaustively at reaching well-founded conclusions and rejected the idea that anything - and he means anything - can be a 'provable certainty.'