There is a certain PHASE in the life of the aged when the WARMTH of the heart seems to increase in DIRECT proportion with the years.

If I was making a TEA advert, I would want to communicate about tea is that it can console you, it can start your DAY, there is the warmth and the ritual, and you can share it; you MAKE SOMEONE a cup of tea and you offer it to them.

I moved out to New ZEALAND to LIVE as I THOUGHT the warmth and PEACE and quiet would help me. I went away and changed my whole life routine.

My relationship with the Philharmonia ORCHESTRA brought me MANY times to London and I will always reflect positively on that early period of DEVELOPMENT with them - their patience, their WARMTH, their dedication.

The Commonwealth PRIZE is about celebrating the Commonwealth and the special RELATIONSHIP we have with the ex-colonies - which is PART GUILT and part warmth - and the Booker Prize isn't an essential part of that, but it is part of that.