Liam Fox was in a determined frame of mind at this morning’s Conservative Friends of Israel briefing on yesterday’s elections which – even by Knesset standards – have produced a messy outcome. (The joys of proportional representation). The Shadow Defence Secretary worried that paralysis might result from the result and Israel could not afford uncertain […]
William Hague has been swift to respond to this afternoon’s decision by an Information Tribunal that minutes of two Cabinet meetings in 2003 at which the invasion of Iraq was discussed must be released. The shadow foreign secretary said: “Rather than have items of evidence dragged into the public domain piece by piece the Government […]
The decision by William Hague and David Lidington to speak against Israel’s attempts to disarm Hamas is the latest indication of the nature of David Cameron’s foreign policy. Here are some thumbnail summaries of key components: Europe: Opposition to Lisbon and a commitment to hold a referendum on all future transfers of power to Brussels […]
After Israeli ground troops entered Gaza yesterday evening to continue the operation to eliminate Hamas’ rocket bases, Shadow Foreign minister, David Lidington MP, issued this statement – renewing William Hague’s earlier call for a ceasefire: "This is a serious development that is bound to lead to yet more loss of life. We support international calls […]
After his call for "restraint" on Saturday, the Shadow Foreign Secretary has just issued this second statement: “I am gravely concerned about the continuing violence in Gaza and the numbers of civilians killed and injured. The crisis is exacting a terrible human toll on both sides and it is imperative that further loss of life […]
ConHome has published four posts on the situation in Gaza: William Hague’s statement calling for restraint. Video of David Cameron calling the situation "horrific" Plus CentreRight posts from Alex Deane and Ridley Grove. Pasted below is a briefing just emailed out to supporters of Conservative Friends of Israel (of which I am one). Tim Montgomerie
There are various versions of the Crockery Shop (or Pottery Barn) test but the essence is: If you break it, you own it. My own view is that Saddam broke Iraq and set up the insurgency but once Britain and America had entered Iraq we had a responsibility to fix the chaos that ensued. Former […]
As promised in this morning’s papers, Gordon Brown has formally announced the timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq next summer, saying that good progress has been made in the areas of security, democracy and reconstruction in the country. Iraq will regain full sovereignty on the expiry of UN resolution 1790 on New […]
The title of this post was the question asked by Paul Goodman MP within a speech he gave to the New Culture Forum on Monday night. Mr Goodman, Shadow Minister for Social Cohesion, analysed three potential strategic answers to that question: appeasement, assimilation and integration. We summarise the speech below and this PDF contains the […]
ConservativeHome has been given an advance copy of what David Cameron will say at the first meeting of the CDU-Conservative Party working group later today. Responding to the news that Yusuf al-Qaradawi may be granted a visa, Cameron will call on Gordon Brown to act quickly and ban preachers of hate from entering the country. […]
I’ll report a lot more later on David Cameron’s Washington visit. The day began (photo above) with David Cameron paying respects to the American soldiers who have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He’s just spoken at the Brookings Institute about the Balkans. A very authoritative speech and cleverly chosen. Mr Cameron raised […]
About an hour ago we learnt that the Metropolitan Police have been found guilty of endangering the public in pursuing Jean Charles de Menezes. Sir Ian Blair has just been on TV promising to learn the lessons of the trial and vowing to continue to lead the Met. That is not enough for Shadow Home […]
Today’s Sunday Times: "The Foreign Office has cleared dozens of Iranians to enter British universities to study advanced nuclear physics and other subjects with the potential to be applied to weapons of mass destruction. In the past nine months about 60 Iranians have been admitted to study postgraduate courses deemed “proliferation-sensitive” by the security services. […]
David Cameron has just addressed a conference of the CDU/CSU in Berlin. He has used the speech to distance himself from the liberal interventionism of Bush and Blair. The speech should not come as a surprise. David Cameron has not visited Washington since becoming Tory leader and has ridiculed the idea that “you can drop […]
Earlier today the Conservative peer and former First Minister of Northern Ireland, Baron Trimble, launched a paper entitled Misunderstanding Ulster. Published by Conservative Friends of Israel, the paper warns against learning the wrong lessons from the NI peace process- a process for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. David Trimble is particularly concerned […]