The PM is right to recognise the state of Palestine. The two state solution has been the policy of successive Governments. Making this statement won’t of course stop the killing in Gaza or bring the hostages home. Only a ceasefire will do that. However this is significant www.gov.uk/government/s...

If you missed Catriona’s brilliant preview of the show on the Today programme yesterday have a listen on BBC Sounds!

Watching Spielberg’s The Post again, striking how relevant Justice Black’s opinion in the Washington Post case 1971 still is ‘The Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors’.

Gearing up for BBCr4 Today Programme on where the State Visit leaves us on Ukraine and Israel/Gaza. How far did the rosy glow of Royal hospitality affect discussions on the tough issues? Give us a listen at 0712

How far can the goodwill generated on Day 1 of the State Visit, spent far from the madding crowd in the glow of Royal hospitality, be translated on Day 2 into economic deals of benefit to UK and progress on international crises? The first looks more likely than the second. 1/7

If you are curious to know what the vetting process amounts to, and the differences between appointing a political figure as opposed to a career diplomat, have a listen to the first five minutes here, before coming on to Adam Boulton on the politics of the case. open.spotify.com/episode/1uvx...

Some very good commentary here. I was particularly struck by Georgina Wright’s point that France is losing influence in Europe because of its endless domestic turmoil. www.gmfus.org/news/frances...

Bayrou is right about the dismal state of French public finances. But being right may not be enough for his government’s survival. Why France’s PM called an unexpected confidence vote about the country’s debt France is in big trouble, again economist.com/europe/2025/... from @economist.com

Yes this is an excellent insight.

A memory for #VJDay80 of two brothers whose fates were bound up with the Burma war. They were born into an Indian Army family: their father Leslie retired as Col of the 2nd Btn XIX Hyderabad Regiment in 1937. The boys, Desmond and Maurice, were formatted for the same career. 1/11

I set out some thoughts last night on BBCR4 on the Ukraine day on the White House. In short it was a good day for European diplomacy. First, a well-schooled Zelensky handled his Ordeal by Oval Office deftly, with plenty of thanks and flattery and earning warm if vague words of support from Trump 1/7

At one point during the 1999 Kosovo crisis, Tony Blair invited Chirac and Schroeder for dinner in No10. Leaders from all round Europe started ringing up to say they were coming too. It became known in No 10 as the ‘bring a bottle’ summit.

My thoughts on that Alaska summit from 15mins in here. In short, a clear win for Putin. With an ICC indictment for war crimes hanging over him, shunned by W nations for 3.5 years, he was greeted as a co-equal world leader by Trump without giving anything in return. 1/4 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Your source is impeccable! And to be fair to Churchill he maintained his opposition to conceding Stalin a free hand in Poland all the way to the point where was ousted from office during Potsdam.

With all the talk of Yalta Mk 2 in the run-up to the Trump-Putin summit, it’s worth noting one big difference: in Jan 45, Soviet troops had occupied almost all of pre-war Poland. In terms of the future of Poland, US/UK faced a fait accompli rather than a negotiation. Putin occupies 20% of Ukraine.

It’s going to be a wonderful exhibition, opening Sept 26, not to be missed!

My thoughts here (15 mins in) on the latest Israeli escalation It’s a disaster, which will bring further deaths and misery. It shows Bibi has no plan to end the war. The idea he can at some point just decide to hand the running of Gaza to an Arab state is a fantasy. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

I can help! The Home Sec has written to the Commons Home Affairs Cttee (and to me in the same terms). The HAC have published the text here👇You will see that the Home Sec has relied on Section 22(1) of CRAG allowing ratification in exceptional circs. 1/2 committees.parliament.uk/publications...

Did you spot a very odd word which has crept in? Article 17.1 (a) on the tasks of the Joint Committee says these will include ‘to monitor the application of this agreement in particular its tantamount objective of balance’. Meaningless. 1/2

With all these Franco-British discussions about state-building in the Near East, now’s the time to read (or re-read) this by @jamesbarr.bsky.social. Not only a brilliant book about the tangled history of the region, but one if the best non-fiction titles. dauntbooks.co.uk/shop/books/a...

If you are up and about early I will be on the Today Programme on BBCR4 at 7.10 on what more the Government should do on the desperate crisis in Gaza and whether now is the time to recognise Palestine.

My thoughts in the FT on the agreements with France last week and this week’s Treaty with Germany. The Brexit shadow has lifted from UK bilateral relations in Europe. 🇬🇧🇫🇷🇩🇪are now clearly in the lead in weaning Europe off over-dependence on the US. It will be a long haul. www.ft.com/content/fb29...

We recently signed a five year partnership agreement between the Franco-British Council and the Government of Jersey. As a result, we were glad to welcome three Jersey professionals on our Young Leaders programme. As they found, this can lead to interesting encounters! www.bbc.com/news/article...

This has been the most productive 🇬🇧🇫🇷 Summit since Lancaster House 2010. With next week’s 🇬🇧🇩🇪Summit and Defence Treaty, it marks the final laying of the Brexit ghost, at least in terms of bilateral links with EU countries. The combination of Putin and Trump has made this essential. A 🧵

Thrilled to appointed UK Special Envoy for the loan of the Bayeux Tapestry to the British Museum, and of treasures from their collection to France. The first time this extraordinary artwork has been back to Britain since it was embroidered here almost 1,000 years ago! / www.gov.uk/government/n...

Good to be in Copenhagen for the first meeting of Chairs of European Affairs Committees under the Danish EU Presidency @eu2025dk. Meeting in the Folketing carries strong echoes of Borgen, though our proceedings may not be quite so dramatic or glamorous!

The Lords European Affairs Committee is taking evidence today from Ministers Nick Thomas-Symonds and Stephen Doughty on the EU/UK relationship following the 19 May summit. This will wrap up our Inquiry into what used to be called the EU-UK reset. How far and fast can this go? Watch live from 3.30.

There’s some exceptional journalism in the FT today. In this long read from Tim Garton Ash, I particularly liked the insight that the structural challenge for Europe is that the policies it needs are increasingly European but the politics are national. And…

Thanks to Ed Stourton for giving me me eight precious minutes for a wide-ranging interview on the US bombing of Iran starting at around 1320 here. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Thanks Francois. It’s not going to be easy for UK/Fr/Ge having stood aside from the Iran attacks (rightly) and wanting to avoid an open breach with Trump either on that or defence spending. If Iran retaliates very likely Trump won’t come.

@lordrickettsp.bsky.social , I liked what you just said on the @bbcnews-world-rss.bsky.social . I'm worried about how we will handle the collision between Trump's state of mind and expectations after operation Midnight Hammer and the European posture(s) at the The Hague NATO summit

Trump made his choice, embroiling the US in another Middle East war, precisely what he promised his base he would not do. He may think this is a one-off strike. But the Iranians will decide that. Will be discussing the implications incl for the UK on BBC Radio 4 The World This Weekend around 1320.

🚨 NEW POD 🚨 Britain might have to fight a shooting war in Europe within two years. Do we have the weapons and (more importantly) are we up to it? 🚨 Former National Security adviser @lordrickettsp.bsky.social explains the depth of the challenge to @nndroid.bsky.social 📳 Listen linktr.ee/bunker_pod

Will the conflict in Israel-Iran escalate?🚨 What does the conflict mean for the UK?🇬🇧 Former UK National Security Adviser @lordrickettsp.bsky.social will tell Robert on tonight’s show #Peston

“If Trump orders an American strike…should we use British assets to support him?” “We should not” Former National Security Adviser @lordrickettsp.bsky.social says bombing Iran will ‘only reinforce their determination' for a nuclear weapon and a deal is the only way forward #Peston

Calling historical sleuths! I’m finishing a book, Peace Makers, on the men and women of the Foreign Office in WWII. In the FCDO archives, there is this 1941 photo labelled ‘Anthony Eden’s Personal Private Secretary’. My source who worked in Eden’s office from 1943 doesn’t recognise her. Who is she?

Thoughts from me here on the new world of disorder. Israel’s attack on Iran shows how the old guardrails have fallen away: while Trump, Putin and Xi pursue their own narrow national interests, the situation in the Middle East is effectively out of control. observer.co.uk/news/politic...

My comments for BBC Radio 4 Today programme on the Israeli strikes on Iran. x.com/bbcr4today/s...

A month ago on @BBCr4today I called on the Gov’t to take 3 steps in response to Israel’s aid blockade and renewed assault on Gaza: 1) suspend trade talks 2) sanction Smotrich and Ben Gvir (both now done). The third was to suspend all remaining arms sales. Still waiting on that one.

A notable absence from today’s announcements is the promised National Security Strategy. This sh’d surely have been published before or (as in 2010) with the SDR. The NSS setting the x-government strategy, with the SDR deriving the priorities for defence capabilities. No point publishing NSS later.

Adding a few belated thoughts on this story, which is only briefly referred to in the SDR. What’s proposed here seems to be UK joining longstanding NATO nuclear sharing ie US B61 nuclear bombs based in 🇩🇪 🇧🇪🇳🇱🇮🇹 to be delivered by those countries using dual capable aircraft./

Found at a French brocante: a peaceful scene at Llabanère airfield, Perpignan, in 1958. But it turns out that this DC3 of Atlas Air Morocco F-DABV was the first civil airliner to be hijacked - by the French secret services and Army in 1956, in the early stages of Algerian war. 🧵

What I will look for in the Strategic Defence Review: credibility, coherence and choice. Credibility means firm and adequate spending commitments. As I comment here, 3% by 2034 is too little too late, given the capability gaps that need to be filled. 1/5 www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Quoted here on having more of the FCDO’s senior staff abroad and a slimmer head office. This makes sense. More Foreign less Office. But it makes NO sense to cut the FCDO budget while increasing defence spending. Diplomats ensure that mil power can achieve political effect! www.ft.com/content/9bac...

My thoughts on where next on Gaza. Netanyahu’s attack on Starmer Macron and Carney is how he operates. When under pressure he lashes out. But it is wholly consistent both to denounce Hamas terrorism and to criticise the Israeli Government for its Gaza blockade. www.newstatesman.com/internationa...

At long last. The PM has finally accepted that ‘youth mobility is not freedom of movement.’ A visa-based scheme is not a concession to the EU but a huge opportunity for young people on both sides of the Channel to live, study, work and love in another culture - in the way previous generations have!

My main points on what the UK Government should do to respond to Israel’s horrifying new assault on Gaza, beyond working to get the blockade lifted. First, slap sanctions on Smotrich and Ben Gvir for their hateful rhetoric about destroying Gaza and expelling Palestinians. 1/5

On the Today Programme at 0750 to discuss what practical steps Britain and others could/should take in the face of the daily horrors inflicted on Gaza. Yes there are useful things the Government could do even if they won’t change Netanyahu’s mind.