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insignificant

local amenity.

It sounds vaguely comic,

but presumably it's not to you.

But when you live

in a small community,

you become very proud,

rightly, of the facilities here.

And people are willing to play

a part

in helping to keep them going,

but they don't want

to be ignored, they don't want

to be marginalized.

My strength is being able

to keep going, really.

My weakness is not being able

to take any positive course

of action.

No formal education can prepare

anybody for life.

Only life can prepare you

for what comes.

And sooner or later,

you're going

to have to cross

certain barriers.

There are a few things

I would like to say.

And the first thing to say is,

there's been

tremendous good will

toward the series.

But I'm also aware that I'm

not the only participant

who wants to set the record

straight in a number of ways.

For so many millions of people,

I'm here wearing my heart

on my sleeve.

And they think they know

absolutely everything about me.

There were countless people

writing me, saying,

"I know exactly how

you feel. "

And actually,

from those letters,

I would say none of them,

not a single one of them,

knew exactly how

I was feeling.

I've got a great deal of respect

for the Liberal Democrats,

but I think that I won't

vote for them this time...

Here in Cumbria,

I'm really glad to be doing

what I do to be representing

people

at local political level.

But in one sense I'm doing that

because it's the only way I've

been able to make any money.

I get a derisory amount of money

for being a councilor.

I do enjoy the work, but I've

been completely unsuccessful

in trying to find a paid career

of any kind.

I have always wanted to write

as a career

and indeed have written

huge amounts.

And ironically, despite

appearing in this program

so frequently, nobody

has ever shown

any serious interest in any

of the work I do.

And believe me, it's a great

deal more important to me

than anything I can say

on the television screen.

Even if somebody sent it back

to me and said,

"Well, I read it,

and it's rubbish, actually,"

that would be very demoralizing,

but at least some interaction

would have taken place.

There's hardly a day goes by

when I don't write.

That's a great gift,

isn't it?

It is, but it shouldn't be

a sort of masturbation

about which nobody else

knows anything.

Neil Hughes is

the Liberal Democrat candidate.

I and the Liberal Democrats want

to see a just and fair society.

In 2006, I was invited to go to

Australia to give a talk,

and the chap

who introduced me said,

"Neil is clearly such a

profoundly motivated politician

that we can all expect to see

him as Prime Minister

of the United Kingdom. "

This wasn't a joke, I assure you

he said this

with absolute seriousness.

Now, it was ludicrous,

but this is how wildly skewed

the perceptions have become.

Do you think I would

really have been

invited to Australia if they

were aware that I was someone

who lives on a few quid a week

benefit and has

as much chance of changing the

future of the United Kingdom

as...

I don't know,

someone who's serving

a lifetime jail sentence?

Yes, I'd say

I believed in God.

Are you religious?

Well, I go to church with

my parents on Sundays.

I don't know even now whether I

do believe in God or not.

I've thought an awful lot

about it, actually.

And I still don't know.

And how has he been

treating you?

Well, I said to somebody last

week that I preferred

the Old Testament

to the New Testament.

Because in the Old Testament,

God is very unpredictable.

And that's, I think,

how I've seen Him in my life.

And Doreen as well...

I was first a lay reader

in London.

After completing

a little more training,

I was relicensed by

the bishop of Carlisle.

Well, good morning.

Welcome to our service today.

Just a couple of notices first.

If you haven't already

been told,

the proposed pet show

is, unfortunately, cancelled.

I'm the lay minister.

I'm licensed to carry out

quite a number of functions.

That includes leading services, preaching,

taking part in the readings,

helping to distribute

the communion, and so on.

In fact, I can do more or less

everything a priest can do.

To what extent

am I a good model for others?

I don't know.

On the other hand,

I am angry that so many doors

have been closed,

not just for me,

but for so many people.

I do feel nobody's

listening out there.

There seem to be

few currents

that are encouraging people to

stand up for their rights,

not just their strict

legal rights,

but their rights

to be human.

In the name of the Father and of

the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

I'm not unappreciative of

the honor it's been

to be able to serve

the church,

to be able

to serve my community,

and I want to make that

absolutely clear.

And it's true, I think it was Albert

Camus who said that life is what happens

while you're waiting for

something else.

But it's not the sort of place

where someone

who wants to change society

is best employed.

I would have thought

that was pretty obvious.

In the winter, if you live in the country,

it was just all wet

and there wouldn't be anything

for miles around.

We're a very quiet village.

There's always room for more

activity and for more people

being involved, but I think

we do fairly well

as a diversity of groups.

They're still trying to

persuade me to go in.

Apparently Alan has cried off

at the last minute,

so there's just

the two of them.

I think it was Pascal, the great

philosopher and mathematician,

who said that if a man can live

happily in his own living room

most of his life, then he's achieved

the utmost philosophical breakthrough,

and philosophically speaking,

that's true, but I can't.

You stick me in my living room

for one hour on my own

and I want to be out

doing something.

I want to be out

changing things.

I have always had

a nervous complaint.

I've had it since I was 16.

It was responsible for my

leaving university

and for some of my difficulties

with work.

Do you worry about

your sanity?

Um...

Other people sometimes

worry about it.

Like who?

As I said, I sometimes can

be found behaving in...

in an erratic fashion.

Sometimes I get very frustrated.

Very angry.

For no apparent reason.

For a reason which won't be apparent

to other people around me.

I don't see any way out.

I've thought of everything

I possibly could.

It seemed to me for a long time

that getting a reliable job

and a nice place to live

would be the solution.

Well, I haven't succeeded.

I can't see any immediate future

at all.

Although there have been times

in my life

when I've been suicidal,

that wasn't one of them.

So there have been

worse than...

Yes, but it's not for

this program

to expose my private feelings,

and yet many people feel

it has.

Ultimately.

Although this time round,

I've been far more candid

than I perhaps ever have

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