Chris Patten Quotes (46 Quotes)


    Frankly, there wouldn't have been much point in me coming unless I was prepared to go and see the head of the Tamil Tigers and make clear in no uncertain terms what the international community expects of him and his colleagues in coming weeks and months,



    He would like Britain to take a leading role in the affairs of the EU, and to lay to rest our ambivalence about membership of the union,

    Only a state which is terrified of the truth resorts to sending men in masks into television and radio studios, ... Only a regime determined to try to cut Serbia off completely from the rest of Europe could conceive of behaving in this way.


    Will Hong Kong people really be able to decide for themselves, as promised, how to run their domestic affairs, or will the decisions which matter be dictated by others

    I suppose I've always carried what is regarded as a bit of unnecessary baggage in Britain. I've always carried the charge that I am an intellectual in politics.

    It is almost always wrong that the time isn't ripe to decide something. That is always said of difficult problems.

    In a democracy everybody has a right to be represented, including the jerks.

    Throwing young men out of work, throwing people into poverty and ending business life don't promote stability in the Palestinian territories,

    Nobody, repeat nobody, that I've met from the major political parties in Colombo have raised any question or doubt about my visit at all.

    I think that if politics is just about getting your backside on important seats, then it's a pretty worthless endeavor.


    We are profoundly disappointed that Zimbabwe's parliament has passed this law, which represents a fundamental attack on media freedom,

    Every head of government has national interests they want to battle for and there must be trade-offs for an agreement to be reached,

    Anna was Sweden and we hope to our very marrow that Sweden will go on being Anna.

    So, what I say to people is that politics has got to be about principle and values above all. Of course, there are times when you have to make accommodations.

    But the ability to articulate what you are doing, to be clear about it, and to stick to it is, I think, the essence of political leadership.

    Of course, there were huge disagreements in the arguments of military intervention, ... There is no point at the moment on focusing on those disagreements.

    Hong Kong represents the kind of Asia with which both West and East are comfortable, ... ... It offers, in that sense, a vision for the future of Asia.

    Politicians in Colombo recognize that they do have to work together in order to provide a common position for dealing with the (Tamil Tigers),

    We must dig deep in our pockets to make sure Pakistan isn't destabilized by the humanitarian crisis that may be about to engulf the country,

    Undoubtedly, at the moment, the major cause of CO2 emission is what happens in developed countries.

    Clearly we will be expected to make a substantial contribution (to the reconstruction effort),

    Green politics at its worst amounts to a sort of Zen fascism; less extreme, it denounces growth and seeks to stop the world so that we can all get off.

    Certainly in Europe, I don't think that would be acceptable to our electorates. I think our electorates would much prefer us to say, well, we'll do what we can to ensure that at least on our part the protocol is ratified by the time of the conference on sustainable development in 2002,

    We do think the appalling economic circumstances in the West Bank and Gaza, that the economic blockade by Israel, that the non-payment of revenues by Israel to the Palestinian Authority, that these things make the security situation worse,

    We want to know that if we are investing money in Macedonia, it is being spent to ensure Macedonia's stability and prosperity.

    In democracy everyone has the right to be represented, even the jerks.

    The White Ensign has just been lowered over this shore base, but the values that it has stood for will, I hope, remain in this place respect for law and for person, trust, duty and service.

    All parts of the society need to feel that the police service is their police service, and that does not happen unless all parts of society are represented in the police,

    I believe in trying to get a balance between individual freedom on the one hand and social responsibility on the other.

    Most worrying for me in China is the stoking up of nationalist sentiment as an alternative to, I think, moral fervor that used to accompany Communism. I hope that the Chinese authorities will be careful about that.

    The new administration must be broad-based with a mandate to speak for a majority of the people of Afghanistan,

    It's not particularly constructive to dredge up these debates and divisions of the past, ... On the contrary, it's necessary to bring the willing together, not divide them.

    Britain has made clear repeatedly to Chinese leaders that it would be wrong and damaging to scrap this council and replace it,

    I think that what most surprises anybody who goes into politics from even a modestly cerebral background is the vulgarity of much of the cut and thrust of politics.

    I very much hope the success that's already been achieved will help Wells get over the finishing line and raise the money still required.

    It is a sort of great Victorian truth that actually, trying to do the right thing is pretty good for you and pretty good for business as well, by and large.

    I don't think that capitalism should be unbridled, if by "unbridled" you mean unregulated.

    The contract is we'll pray that Hong Kong will fly to the heavens, and you'll occasionally say a prayer for us,

    I hope they (the solutions) are forthcoming and that the government of the Russian Federation will not conclude that the only answer to terrorism is to increase the power of the Kremlin,

    What we are still not told is why it is necessary to restrict Hong Kong's civil liberties,

    The political situation is as hot as the temperature. I think frankly we are on a knife edge. There has to be some movement, I think, above all on the question of terrorism in order for us to see people pulling back from the brink. And that has to come soon.

    the whole international community needs to stand together in the face of new threats to our shared values.

    There is a sort of exotic preposterousness about a lot of elections, the way arguments are made even cruder.


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