"My view is that the Prime Minister [Tony Blair], far from lacking conviction, has almost too much, particularly when dealing with the world beyond Britain. He is a little too Manichaean for my perhaps now jaded taste, seeing matters in stark terms of good and evil, black and white, contending with each other, and with a consequent belief that if evil is cast down good will inevitably follow. I am more inclined to see the world and the regimes within it in varying shades of grey. The experience of the past year, not least in Afghanistan, has given more support to that view than to the more Utopian one that a quick "change of regime" can make us all live happily ever after."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Members of the Parliament of the United KingdomBiographers from the United KingdomLabour Party (UK) politiciansPoliticians from WalesHistorians from Wales
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Speech in the House of Lords (24 September 2002) shortly before the Iraq War
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roy_Jenkins
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Roy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM PC (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as the sixth president of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981, having previously been one of the primary proponents of British entry into the European Economic Community. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Labour Party, Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Liberal Democrats, he was Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary under the Wilson and
121 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Roy Jenkins →
Related Quotes
"One of the central purposes of democratic socialism was to extend throughout the community the opportunity of freedom…"
"Three years ago it [public opinion] was strongly in favour of entry [into the EEC]. It may change again...and in any …"
"It was better to have a somewhat harsh Budget, which would cure inflation, rather than a generous, popular Budget whi…"
"Future nationalisations will be more concerned with equality than with planning, and this means that we can leave the…"
"Neutrality is essentially a conservative policy, a policy of defeat, of announcing to the world that we have nothing …"
"It is quite impossible to advocate both the abolition of great inequalities of wealth and the acceptance of a one-qua…"
"The first duty of a party of the left is to be radical in the context of the moment, to offer the prospect of continu…"
"Representative democracy demands a clear division of function between the electors and the elected. The former choose…"
"It is hard to understand why an attempt to get more of the national product for those who at present get least is to …"
"I thought it was horrifying that they threw him out at Hillhead. A man of such great distinction and stature. It was …"