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“Brexit is having a wee in the middle of the room at a house party because nobody is talking to you, and then complaining about the smell.” -
IT Security at FCO is so tight they'll almost certainly know who it is. Whether anything happens to them depends on who knows about it and whether they GAS.Originally posted by woohoo View PostHis heart is in the right place - shame we can't say the same about his brain...Comment
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Dunno, Gavin Williamson got sacked: U.K. Cabinet Minister Sacked Over Huawei LeakOriginally posted by Mordac View Post
Now a Johnson supporter so probably going to be the next ambassador to the USA...“Brexit is having a wee in the middle of the room at a house party because nobody is talking to you, and then complaining about the smell.”Comment
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Williamson was a Minister who upset a lot of people (he was an ex Chief Whip, iirc), we're now talking about a Civil Servant, and they have slightly different rules...Originally posted by darmstadt View PostHis heart is in the right place - shame we can't say the same about his brain...Comment
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Originally posted by woohoo View Post
What we need is an ambassador that can grab em by the pussy. The chlorinated chicken will be free flowing then, should the chemicals fail to do the job.Last edited by scooterscot; 12 July 2019, 08:13."Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience". Mark TwainComment
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Well you managed to say one sensible thing in all that.Originally posted by woohoo View Post"Being nice costs nothing and sometimes gets you extra bacon" - Pondlife.Comment
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When I need my opinion validated I will ask and believe me when I say I would rather ask scoots than you. Burn.Originally posted by DaveB View PostComment
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Time for top conspiracy theories:
“Brexit is having a wee in the middle of the room at a house party because nobody is talking to you, and then complaining about the smell.”Comment
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Who will Boris appoint?
Back in the bad old days, which we seem to be revisiting, Sir Eric Phipps was ambassador to Germany in 1937:
He was replaced by Neville Henderson:In 1933, he was appointed British Ambassador to Germany. To some extent, he followed policies later known as appeasement, as he believed that the League of Nations was the key to preventing the next war. He tried to enlist the French in efforts to get the Germans to co-operate.
However, in some dispatches, he warned the British government about the character of the régime. On 31 January 1934, he told his Foreign Secretary:
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[Hitler's] policy is simple and straightforward. If his neighbours allow him, he will become strong by the simplest and most direct methods. The mere fact that he is making himself unpopular abroad will not deter him, for, as he said in a recent speech, it is better to be respected and feared than to be weak and liked. If he finds that he arouses no real opposition, the tempo of his advance will increase. On the other hand, if he is vigorously opposed, he is unlikely at this stage to risk a break.
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Phipps gave a further warning on 1 April 1935 of Germany's growing military strength:
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Let us hope our pacifists at home may at length realise that the rapidly-growing monster of German militarism will not be placated by mere cooings, but will only be restrained from recourse to its ultima ratio by the knowledge that the Powers who desire peace are also strong enough to enforce it.
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During his first year in Berlin, Phipps managed to see Hitler only four times. Phipps himself regarded Hitler as something of a cipher or enigma; Hitler was variously described in his dispatches back to London as more moderate than his followers or as possibly mad. In May 1936, Phipps presented to Hitler the famous "questionnaire", largely written by his brother-in law, the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Robert Vansittart, that asked point-blank if Germany intended "to respect the existing territorial and political status of Europe" and was willing to sign "genuine treaties". Neither Hitler nor any other German leader ever responded to the "questionnaire".
A believer in appeasement policies, Henderson thought Adolf Hitler could be controlled and pushed toward peace and cooperation with the Western powers. Like almost all of the British elite in the interwar era, Henderson believed that the Treaty of Versailles was far too harsh on Germany, and if only the terms of Versailles were revised in Germany's favour, then another world war could be prevented...
By contrast, Ascher credited Henderson's beliefs about avoiding war due to his desire to uphold white supremacy and to avoid another "fratricidal" war between white peoples at a time when Asian, black and brown peoples were starting to demand equality, citing Henderson's dispatch to Eden on 26 January 1938 that warned that another Anglo-German war: "would be...absolutely disastrous-I cannot imagine and would be unwilling to survive the defeat of the British Empire. At the same time, I would view with dismay another defeat of Germany, which would merely serve the purposes of inferior races"
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Shortly after arriving in Berlin, Henderson started to clash with Vansittart. Vansittart complained that Henderson was exceeding his brief and becoming too close to the Nazi leaders, especially Hermann Göring who became Henderson's best friend. Henderson first met Göring on 24 May 1937 and admitted to having a "real personal liking" for him. The same tendency towards hero-worship that Henderson had displayed towards King Alexander when he was in Belgrade reasserted itself in Berlin towards Göring as Henderson had a fascination with militaristic authority figures.
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Henderson called the Party Rally of 1937, which took place between 10-11 September, a most impressive event attended by some 140, 000 Germans, who were full enthusiasm for the regime. Henderson wrote that his hosts in Nuremberg went out of their way to be friendly towards him, giving him a luxurious apartment to stay in and inviting him to sumptuous meals with the best German food and wine being served. From Nuremberg, Henderson reported to London that:
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"We are witnessing in Germany the rebirth, the reorganisation and unification of the German nation. One may criticise and disapprove, one may thoroughly dislike the threatened consummation and be apprehensive of its potentialities. But let us make no mistake. A machine is being built up in Germany, which in the course of this generation, if it succeeds unchecked, as there is no reason to believe that it will not, will be extraordinarily formidable. All this was achieved in less than five years. Germany is now so strong it can no longer be attacked with impunity, and soon, the country will be prepared for aggressive action".
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However, Henderson saw no reason for alarm, writing that "we are perhaps entering the quieter phrase of Nazism, of which the first indication has been the greater tranquility of the 1937 meeting [at Nuremberg]." Henderson spoke with Hitler at Nuremberg, and described him as seeking "reasonableness" in foreign affairs with a special interest in reaching an "Anglo-German understanding"“Brexit is having a wee in the middle of the room at a house party because nobody is talking to you, and then complaining about the smell.”Comment
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Nigel Frottage or Steve Yaxley-McCartneyOriginally posted by darmstadt View Post…Maybe we ain’t that young anymoreComment
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