"You have to be interested in politics these days. If you're not, you're a completely lost individual. Whereas, years ago, politics seemed to be this thing that was secluded for a minority of intellectuals, these days you can't get away with that argument - you have to be attuned to what's happening, there's so much at stake. Ther's absolutely no escuse for people who aren't politically aware."
–Nov. 1983

"I really believe that complacency is bred. It's a recurring theme promoted by a government that says, 'Look, do not worry about nuclear weapons - we will look after you.' Governmental issues aren't translated in a way understandable to most people. Issues are deliberately veiled to prevent people from grasping the point at hand then forming their own opinion."
–Nov. 1983

"Ultimately people feel it's all beyond them - we want to change that. The Smiths will push people to think for themselves, to believe they can really do something."
–Nov. 1983

"Everything modern is quite foul."
–June 1984

"The entire history of Margaret Thatcher is one of violence and oppression and horror. I think that we must not lie back and cry about it. She's only one person, and she can be destroyed. I just pray there is a Sirhan Sirhan somewhere. It's the only remedy for this country."
–June 1984

"The sorrow of the Brighton bombing is that Thatcher escaped unscathed. The sorrow is that she's still alive."
–Nov. 1984

"The world should be nuclear free. So much is at stake that if we don't get rid of nuclear weapons, we're all in an immense amount of danger. I'd love to be optimistic about the future, and I do have a lot of faith in human spirit, but if Margaret Thatcher did get re-elected..."
–1984

"I think audiences get bored with groups introducing strong hardcore politics into every song. You don't have to be madly blunt in a political sense. To me that lacks a certain degree of intellect. And although we haven't made any abrasively bold statements in a lyrical sense, I think people can gauge where we stand."
–Dec. 1984

"You need a government to run the country, but people should have control over it and it should work for them."
–1984

"Ordinary people don't know their own strength any more. They've been indoctrinated to believe that they're powerless to do anything."
–1984

"From the time that you get hit when you're a child, violence is the only answer. Conversation is pointless."
–March 1985

"Personally, I'm an incurably peaceable character. But where does it get you? Nowhere. You have to be violent."
–March 1985

"Everybody on a public platform is a preacher. But most people preach absolute monotony and it's accepted, and because I like to feel in an absolutely midguided way that I don't, everybody sticks their pins in me."
–March 1985