Douglas Hurd
Douglas Hurd
Douglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell CH CBE PCis a British Conservative politician who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1979 to 1995...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth8 March 1930
spiritual people kind
People know they are lacking something, they are constantly wanting some kind of spiritual guidance.
gossip silence sin
Silence is regarded as a sort of sin now, and it has to be filled with a lot of gossip and soundbites.
prime ministers treaties
If Margaret Thatcher had been Prime Minister at the time, there would have been no Treaty of Maastricht.
television world knee-jerk-reactions
Diplomacy is unfashionable in the world of knee-jerk reaction and the dogmatic sound bite on television.
running war iraq
War on Iraq runs the risk of turning the Middle East into an inexhaustible recruiting ground for anti- western terrorism.
war iraq germany
We, Britain and Germany, can neither of us be happy about our handling of the Iraq war.
giving tools slave
Wisely used history can give pleasure and provide us with a useful tool; but we should not become its slaves.
europe germany economic
Margaret Thatcher was fearful of German unification because she believed that this would bring an immediate and formidable increase of economic strength to a Germany which was already the strongest economic partner in Europe.
europe america leaving
The tragedy of 9/11 galvanised the American superpower into action, leaving us in Europe divided in its wake.
war military successful
No military timetable should compel war when a successful outcome, namely a disarmed Iraq may be feasible without war, for example by allowing more time to the UN inspectors.
downing-street office house
Ten Downing Street is a house, not an office. That is its most important characteristic.
past judgment enjoyable
We must admit that history is enjoyable to a large extent because it enables us to pass judgment on the past.
growing-up years europe
Margaret Thatcher, growing up in a bombed and battered Britain, derived a distrust which has grown with the years not just of Germany but of all continental Europe.
past ideas judgement
There are thus great swathes of the past where understanding is more important and reputable than judgement, because the principal actors performed in line with the ideas and values of that time, not of ours.