Opinion / Public Speaking and Speechwriting

A Page From The Mid-Nineties

I have just found this glowing compliment over at politics.co.uk. Glowing, but with a sting: There’s a lot to be said for this blog from former diplomat Charles Crawford. For those with an interest in international affairs and diplomacy this site is an absolute must. The look of the site could certainly […]

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Coming Out: Charles Crawford, Conservative Party

My various blog posts on the Kaminski story have caught a wider audience. So I have decided today to come out. Back in May this year I, like everyone else, was revolted by the goings-on in Parliament and Government over expenses and other abuses. What especially annoyed me was the […]

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Charles Crawford, Candidate (Or Not)

The Comment function is playing up. Here is a good one from Victor Meldrew:  Judging from this blog, I think you should be cloned and stand in every available seat. Your use of the phrase "the operational management of complexity" strikes a particular chord. This is a lost art in […]

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More On UN-Style Freedom Of Speech

Remember this move by the so-called UN Human Rights Council to get global action against ‘negative stereotyping of religions’? The only question is, what does it mean in practice? As far as I know, a Resolution by the Human Rights Council means nothing at all in itself in formal legal […]

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Even Yet More Further Labour Kaminski Nonsense

Update:   Welcome co-conspirators. Guido is on the case. * * * * * The Labour Party are now officially making a total fool of themselves over Michal Kaminski. Young British diplomats are taught that it is poor technique (and, worse, stupid) to quote someone’s words from a magazine without checking that that […]

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Parting Shots

The BBC is putting out a deft series of short radio programmes about FCO Valedictory Despatches: Parting Shots. Here is Part Two. Featuring various former Excellencies. Myself included, recalling on radio my magnificent suppression of Freedom of the Press.

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Michal Kaminski, Jerzy Buzek

Welcome Iain Dale readers. * * * * * One of the points made by Labour against Kaminski is that he was in effect playing an anti-semitic card by arguing against the apology by then President Kwasniewski for the Jedwabne massacre. It’s obvious! Any Pole arguing against the form or […]

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A Horror Story

Folks. Drop what you are doing and spend just a few minutes to look at this magnificent, grim tirade from Anna Racccoon on the history and workings of the Court of Protection in England – a creepy and (she asserts) stagnantly dirty and unjust legal backwater inherited from days of […]

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The Lisbon Treaty: Explained

Update: since I pointed out the egregious mistake on the FCO website as below, the error has been corrected. Glad to see that someone is reading this blog with an eagle eye. But I’ve left the original blunder quote up for the sake of accuracy. * * * * * The FCO […]

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Embassy Asylum Seekers

A busy day researching for an article in DIPLOMAT the manifold examples of people entering Embassies to seek refuge. The article is prompted by the tragi-comic opera scenes of former President Zelaya as impertinently parked in the Embassy of Brazil in Honduras. As one unimpressed Brazilian diplomat has put it to me, […]

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