Oh Lordy. The Daily Mail rants against the FCO travel package. Tim Worstall falls for it. Try something like this. Any normal employer posting employees overseas includes an arrangement in the postings package for letting staff return to the UK periodically. Does the Dail Mail post anyone overseas? Do they […]
My good pal John Sawers is to take over as Head of MI6, the first (mainly) FCO person to do so although he did start off there a while ago before crossing to join the FCO. He enjoyed a brisk ride to the top with an unusual amount of sharp-end […]
My first ever appearance on live UK TV this evening, on SKY to talk briefly on the ‘anonymous blogger’ issue. Why of all the bloggers in the UK they hit upon me is a mystery. But they did. Not an easy occasion, since the intro had me down as thinking […]
I posted a comment on another Iran piece by Michael Totten at Commentary Contentions: Another good ploy is to make clear that Western governments will do everything possible to expose the names of individuals in the regime suspected of ordering or encouraging acts of brutality against unarmed citizens, and to help […]
A reader asks: I’m dimly aware of some of the covert aid the US offered to Milosevic’s opposition prior to his downfall. I am wondering if you can share some details about those events as well as whether your government also provided similar aid. This would be a very long […]
Mark Steyn picks up my earlier piece on Iran but is disinclined to offer the Obama Administration the benefit of any doubt: Our concerns are largely irrelevant: Obama? They don’t care about his speeches. The nukes? They’ll happen regardless, with wide support. This election was stolen for reasons of internal […]
Talk about Hopey Change. Things have moved into a dizzying new universe when the EU makes a rather brisker set of noises on Iran than the USA. Here is the worst utterance of a US Presidential spokesperson – ever: Obviously, we continue to have concern about what we’ve seen. Obviously, the […]
There is a lot on this site about the problems we and the people of the former Yugoslav region face in where precisely the borders of new states should be, and how those new states should be defined. Try this. Or this. Former US Ambassador to Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia/Montenegro […]
My successor as HM Ambassador in Warsaw is in the Daily Mail being asked about the FCO’s policy to ‘promote’ Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual And Transgender (LGBT) rights. This question was put: Asked whether he would raise the rainbow flag at the British embassies in Iran or Saudi Arabia, Mr Todd […]
Obama fan Camille Paglia looks at that Cairo speech, and is less impressed than she had hoped to be. Thus: Obama’s speech (which I read rather than heard) seemed to my teacher’s eye like a strong first draft rather than a polished final product… The Cairo speech is well-organized, ticking […]
