China’s decision to make its own ruling over the legislative council oath-taking controversy in Hong Kong is something that is of great concern to the United Kingdom. Beijing becoming involved in what has – until now – been purely a matter for Hong Kong is questionable and is far more likely to inflame matters than
When I was Foreign Secretary, a French newspaper described me on one occasion as a “eurosceptic moderate” and of course those two words tell you what my position is. I strongly opposed the single currency and was part of many other people who were opposing that at that time. But I don’t believe that it is
Spying may be one of the two oldest professions, but unlike the other one it has changed quite a lot over the years, and continues to do so. During the quarter-century since the end of the Cold War, the main preoccupation of our intelligence agencies has not been with classic espionage by the Soviet Union,
On 31st March 1854, the radical leader John Bright made the first of his great speeches opposing the Crimean War. “I am told indeed that the war is popular”, he proclaimed, “and that it is foolish and eccentric to oppose it”. A considerable number of my colleagues take a quite contrary view regarding the provision of
Gordon Brown looks like a moth-eaten Prime Minister nowadays. His botched handling of a general election and his help in unifying the Conservatives have been the unexpected hallmarks of an amateur, not a consummate professional. If one adds to this his unpopular protestations that the European Treaty does not require the promised referendum, it would
Why is Tony Blair regularly lampooned as George Bush’s poodle? It is a fate that Margaret Thatcher never suffered, despite her long and intimate alliance with Ronald Reagan. The reason is not that difficult to find. Thatcher was perfectly willing to swing her handbag at the Americans if she judged that British interests required it.