Douglas Alexander
Douglas Alexander
Douglas Garven Alexanderis a British Labour politician who was the Shadow Foreign Secretary and former Member of Parliamentfor Paisley and Renfrewshire South...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth26 October 1967
crisis effective error lack response success weaknesses
One of the big weaknesses of the Conservative Party is not just their ignorance of and lack of effective response to the cost-of-living crisis but a more fundamental error about what makes for success in the 21st century.
clear cost equally offer remain
It would be wrong for us to offer difference from the Conservative Party at the cost of credibility, but equally it would be wrong to offer credibility at the cost of being clear that there remain very fundamental differences.
deal needs
It would be better if we were able to get a deal, but it had to be the right deal. It needs to be the right deal for Britain, and it needs to be the right deal for Europe.
focused focusing won
The Conservatives are so busy focusing on yesterday, they're not focused on tomorrow... on how elections are won in the 21st century.
grew network secure unlike
The Network Generation are secure in, and proud of, their Scottishness. Unlike my generation that grew up in the '80s, they don't see our sense of identity as under threat.
british commit correct course face forces growing history iraq learn lessons responsibility threat wrenching
Of course the decision to commit British forces in Iraq was, for many MPs, a wrenching choice. However, our responsibility in the face of a growing ISIS threat is not to be paralysed by history, but to learn the correct lessons from it.
benefit business deep diverse science scots sports understand united
In sport, as in science, business, and diplomacy, as Scots we understand that we benefit from the deep and diverse partnerships that make up the United Kingdom.
approach general government opposition
My general approach to opposition is where the government is getting something right, we should say so. And where we disagree with them, we should say so, too.
huge summit test
This summit is a huge test for Russia.
belonged bitter born experience joined labour power repeated
When I joined Labour in 1982, I didn't feel I belonged to a party born to power. My repeated experience was of bitter and repeated defeats.
years employment levels
There are genuine questions to be asked about why we now have the highest level of employment in many decades, contrary to the position during the boom-bust years of the Conservatives.
scotland church edinburgh
It was here in Edinburgh that in the 1980s I joined with many others to protest against Margaret Thatcher as she arrived to address the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
technology years play
It is already clear that, because of advances in technology, drones are going to play an increased role in warfare in the years ahead. It is therefore vital that the legal frameworks governing their use are robust and internationally recognised.
past important lessons
It's important to learn the right lessons from the past.