The Telegraph highlights a number of recommendations from a recent report on security by the Conservative Muslim Forum. Having had a chance to look at the report (that appears to have been written last month) I fear that The Telegraph’s report is an accurate summary. I’ve also discovered other troubling recommendations. The Forum, chaired by […]
Gordon Brown promised to go to Parliament to make any announcement on troop withdrawals. But today he’s in Iraq announcing that 1,000 of "our boys" will be home for Christmas. Liam Fox has accused the Prime Minister of using our troops as a "political football": "A week ago Gordon Brown gave only around a minute […]
Yesterday evening some of the Conservative Party’s top donors mingled with MPs, including Iain Duncan Smith, and journalists, including the Editor of The Sun, at the inaugural Margaret Thatcher lecture – hosted by Liam Fox’s Atlantic Bridge. Before the Mayor spoke all of the reception talk was of an autumn election and people were very […]
Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague has obviously hired Sir Humphrey Appleby to be his new speechwriter. Here’s is civil service-speak response to General Petraeus’ report to the US Congress on the progress of President Bush’s surge strategy: "It appears that the US troop surge has had mixed results so far, but it is clear that […]
One of the most dangerous times for the British troops in Iraq will be during the withdrawal stage. But the dangers will be much greater for the Iraqis who have worked with our armed forces as, for example, interpreters. Today’s Times carries a report that Gordon Brown’s Government is ignoring calls from senior British army […]
David Cameron has arrived in Kabul at the start of a two-day fact finding mission. He warned that the West cannot afford to fail saying: "There is no room for complacency. There are risks of failing in Afghanistan. We cannot afford to fail. If we fail we will see an increase, an increase in drugs, […]
Interviewed for BBC1’s Politics Show, Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague made it clear that he did not believe Iraq was to blame for the latest attempts to terrorise Britain. The attacks of 9/11 happened before the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, he noted. He urged the Government to eschew confrontationalism in responding to the latest […]
David Cameron held another press conference in the St Stephen’s Club today. Joined by William Hague he outlined a number of measures Britain should advocate against Iran for its non-compliance over the ongoing nuclear programme. Measures the UN Security Council should institute: a travel ban on anyone involved in Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, […]
Yesterday ConservativeHome readers reacted excitedly to David Cameron’s suggestion that it might be time to find an alternative to ‘Islamism’ as a way of defining the current terror threat. Melanie Phillips has described the Conservative leader’s remarks as "soft brainlessness" and Stephen Pollard has described Mr Cameron’s intervention as a "dangerous… attempt to woo trendy […]
In his statement to a packed House of Commons Defence Secretary Des Browne admitted he had "made mistakes" in not initially overruling the Navy’s decision to allow the Navy personnel detained in Iraq to sell their stories and that he "profoundly regretted" the impact his decisions have had on the reputation of Britain’s armed forces. […]
In another sign of the extent to which the Conservative Party has become the party of civil libertarianism a Communicate Research poll for The Independent finds that Labour MPs are much more likely to support police calls for an increase in the maximum time that suspected terrorists can be detained. It is one of the […]
On yesterday’s BritainAndAmerica blog I identified BBC coverage of external threats as one of ten key vulnerabilities of our country in these early years of the war on terror. When our nation’s dominant (and publicly-funded) broadcaster subjects failings of coalition forces to incessant scrutiny but offers little public education of the threat posed by regimes […]
Earlier today I spoke to William Hague about Iran’s capture of 15 British sailors. The Shadow Foreign Secretary is about to visit the Falkland Islands and will be recording a video diary for ConservativeHome.com. Related link: Weakness invited Iran’s capture of British sailors
The Tory-GOP divide is becoming more serious. After Friday’s criticisms of George W Bush from Peter Ainsworth, the News of the World has confirmed ConservativeHome’s story of January that John McCain is disappointed by David Cameron’s more dove-ish policy on Iraq… except the language in the NotW story (not online) is harder. Senator McCain, who […]
The first report from the Conservatives’ national and international security group was somewhat underwhelming but today’s heavily-trailed report does not pull its punches (Guardian and BBC). Hot-on-the-heels of David Cameron’s likening of BNP supporters and supporters of sharia law, the N&ISG will strongly question the Muslim Council of Britain‘s credibility in representing Muslim opinion in […]