Jonathan Powell
Jonathan Powell
Jonathan Nicholas Powellis a British diplomat who served as the first Downing Street Chief of Staff, under British Prime Minister Tony Blair from 1995 to 2007. He was the only senior adviser to last the whole period of Blair’s leadership. During this period Powell was also the chief British negotiator on Northern Ireland...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionDiplomat
Date of Birth14 August 1956
If there is a political cause, then there has to be a political solution.
british cold enjoy media middle ministers night prime seems send senior soldiers sweat wake war worrying worst
There seems to be a sense in the British media that prime ministers enjoy going to war. They do not. The decision to send British soldiers into battle is the worst and most stomach-churning senior politicians have to take. It makes them wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat worrying if they have done the right thing.
closed people sausage
You can't negotiate in public. People won't make concessions in public. They will do that in private. Like sausage making, you have to do it behind closed doors.
ireland northern suffers
Northern Ireland still suffers from its past, and it will take generations to escape sectarianism and for violence to end totally. Nonetheless, it is in a different place now than during the Troubles, and it will not go back to the old days.
apply argue course deal last lessons meet seem terrorist time utterly
Every time we meet a new terrorist group, we argue they are utterly different and we can learn nothing from the last time. Of course they are different, but some lessons on how we deal with them seem to apply in all cases.
accepted applied films foreign job turned
I started off in radio, then made little films for Granada. I applied for a job at 'Weekend World,' and they turned me down; I'd also applied to the Foreign Office, which accepted me.
love proper
I'd love to have a proper sailing boat and go around the world.
approach critics equate
You should never appease terrorists. The mistake made by critics of the 'talking to your enemy' approach is to equate talking with appeasing.
best trying
All the things I've done are about duty and guilt: trying to do your best to better other people's lives.