Top 40 Crispin Blunt Quotes

The requirement for military force is clear when looking at the first of the nine points agreed in Vienna, which states that ‘Syria’s unity, independence, territorial integrity and secular character are fundamental.’

For the government, there is the frustration of not being a full part of the anti-Isis coalition. For ministers to have their position restrained by our parliament is an embarrassment with their international colleagues.

The creeping optimism that there might be a route to peace in Syria remains constrained by the elephant in the room – Bashar al-Assad.

We simply do not have time as we move from one meeting to the next to have hours to peruse leisure websites of whatever type. There are days when I do not have time to switch my desktop computer on, and computer access is by mobile devices on the run between competing engagements.

Saudi Arabia has been commended for allowing women the right to drive; the opening of cinemas and other entertainment establishments; ending the power of arrest of the religious police. In parallel however, there have been arrests of the activists who for years had advocated for these changes.

The FCO must help Turkey reinforce accountable state institutions, while also developing ties far beyond them: the UK needs a deeper and therefore more durable relationship with the Turkish people, whichever background they hold, while working to uphold the values of human rights and democracy that benefit them all.

We already heard from President Macron saying he won’t let Britain leave the customs union until we get access to their fishing grounds. You can then see the complexity in future, this will go on forever.

Britain’s independent possession of nuclear weapons has turned into a political touchstone for commitment to national defense, but this is an illusion.

To say that the U.K. could have no part to play in improving a justice system different to our own, but which was seeking advice on how to deliver more internationally compliant standards, was a betrayal of our international humanitarian duty.

Any deeper involvement, including the use of airstrikes against Islamic State positions, will require parliamentary approval. The government anyway needs to get over its fear of discussing this with parliament and, if necessary, to seek authorisation at the appropriate moment.

It’s not going to be my political raison d’etre, I think it would be presumptuous to take a leadership role. But I would want to make sure that we support equality.

Disentangling this mess of foreign national interests is a necessary precondition to ensuring that there will be a future for Syria that is Syrian-led and Syrian-owned.

I accept of course we’re in deep trouble and deep difficulty. But if we, under a new leader, reinvent ourselves properly as a Brexit party, we will be faced with the inevitability at some point of a general election in order to deliver Brexit because this Parliament is stopping the delivery of Brexit.

King Abdullah gives a level of insight that we don’t get from our own governments.

The government is sending some terrible signs about what we really stand for.

In 2008, Damian Green, then shadow immigration minister, had his parliamentary office raided without a warrant, by the Metropolitan police, after he was implicated in leaking Home Office documents that were politically embarrassing to the then Labour government.

Doing something to make ourselves feel better is beside the real point of defeating Isis and ending the Syrian civil war.

The coalition government made it clear from the outset that it would proceed with defendant anonymity in rape cases only if the evidence justifying it was clear and sound. In the absence of any such finding, it has reached the conclusion that the proposal does not stand on its merits.

The Conservatives as a Brexit party, being very clear about their objectives are almost certainly going to have to go into some kind of electoral arrangement with the Brexit Party, otherwise Brexit doesn’t happen.

It always had occurred to me that drugs misuse was obviously a major driver of demand in the criminal justice system.

Any initiative involving the green beret – as opposed to special forces – to expand and train a national Libyan military capacity has value, but not in Tripoli, where U.K. forces will be targets and look like an invading force.

There is not a shortage of assets in northern Syria but a shortage of targets.

I accept that speculation, cheerful or otherwise, about the private life is something public figures must expect, but I am lucky enough to continue to enjoy the love and support of Victoria and my children, Claudia and Freddy, and to finally be at ease with myself.

The aim has got to be to maximize the opportunities for prisoners, having got themselves clean and got themselves some training, to have the best possible chance of going straight when they come out.

The public don’t want prisoners lying about being idle.

In view of the mess left behind by the French and ourselves, we cannot simply leave Libya alone.

I do have a huge debt of gratitude to people who fought for equality.

Our unique selling point as a country is global, not regional. Our industries have a pitch to the world, rather than simply trade with Europe.

Frankly, everyone knows that Iain Duncan Smith is not making the impact we would all like him to be as our leader and is not making the necessary impact to carry credibility with the electorate as the alternative prime minister.

London Pride is a big event in the global celebration of freedom.

I think our leadership is now seized of the fact that we have a problem with the youth vote and it might be an idea to get into an intelligent place, both in policy making and in terms of the presentation of our values around freedom and responsibility.

Eighty per cent of the membership of the Conservative Party are very keen to make sure that Brexit happens, we’ll be in a position to enthusiastically support leaving the E.U. with no deal and if we are then able to agree a position to put to the country, I think we would hit the ball out of the park.

When the air forces of the U.S., Russia, France, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and others are already engaged with Isis in Syria, it’s a shortage of targets rather than of aircraft that is the coalition’s principal military constraint.

What we have to do is make sure there are prison places for those sent to prison by the courts and we will continue to do that regardless of how many people are sent to prison.

We don’t comment on special forces operations. And if you run an operation for a long time as we have here, and in Libya, eventually newspapers like the Times report it.

A national Libyan force needs to be created.

The Foreign Affairs Committee is first in line to call for the U.K. to take a more active and independent role in world affairs, and to have the resources to do so. But a large part of that role involves working with allies and leveraging the range of our assets in co-ordination.

Order has been sustained in Egypt over at least the last three decades by police conduct which bears more hallmarks of Egypt’s Ottoman heritage than an accountable criminal justice system.

Is there an alternate role for the U.K. outside the E.U? I think absolutely there is. It shouldn’t be something we should be worried about.

Refusal to engage with the Russian government is not a viable long-term foreign policy option for the U.K.