Douglas Alexander
Douglas Alexander
Douglas Garven Alexanderis a British Labour politician who was the Shadow Foreign Secretary and former Member of Parliamentfor Paisley and Renfrewshire South...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth26 October 1967
interested less means people politics prominent side willing
I've never been interested in self-promotion and that side of politics; and if that means people judge that you're less prominent than others, that's a choice I've been willing to make.
deal needs
It would be better if we were able to get a deal, but it had to be the right deal. It needs to be the right deal for Britain, and it needs to be the right deal for Europe.
england family history scotland
Scotland and England may sometimes be rivals, but by geography, we are also neighbours. By history, allies. By economics, partners. And by fate and fortune, comrades, friends and family.
approach general government opposition
My general approach to opposition is where the government is getting something right, we should say so. And where we disagree with them, we should say so, too.
british commit correct course face forces growing history iraq learn lessons responsibility threat wrenching
Of course the decision to commit British forces in Iraq was, for many MPs, a wrenching choice. However, our responsibility in the face of a growing ISIS threat is not to be paralysed by history, but to learn the correct lessons from it.
audacity hope politics requires
Politics requires the sense of possibility. Dare I say it - the audacity of hope.
considered general interest national newspapers responsibility terms
Newspapers can make their own judgment in terms of who they support in a general election. Our responsibility is to make a considered judgment about where the national interest lies.
crisis effective error lack response success weaknesses
One of the big weaknesses of the Conservative Party is not just their ignorance of and lack of effective response to the cost-of-living crisis but a more fundamental error about what makes for success in the 21st century.
reveal themselves
Politicians often reveal most about themselves in unguarded moments.
country environment foreign information knowledge minister send views
Traditionally, diplomacy was done in an environment of information scarcity. Ambassadors would send back telegrams to foreign ministries, comfortable in the knowledge that their views of a country would be the only source of information the minister would see.
government doors people
The Government have consistently made it clear that the mechanism in the United Kingdom whereby the European draft constitutional treaty could be implemented is approval by the House of Commons followed by a referendum of the people of Britain. There is no question of implementing it by the back door.
fighting years europe
Too often, the idea seemed to be that the cost of being part of Europe was being less like Britain. So after years of fighting to defend Europe against attacks from the Eurosceptic right, it would be fatal to retreat into the same arguments and begin the battle anew.
country voice chinese
In an era of billion-person countries and trillion-pound economies, we need to find ways to amplify our voice. We are most likely to be heard when the Chinese negotiate with a �10 trillion E.U., not a �1.5 trillion Britain.
talking worship building
Building the future holds more attraction than ancestor worship, whichever ancestor we're talking about.