International & Defence Archive
New axis to grind
Now in his 70s but showing no sign of slowing down, Lord Ashdown tells Sam Macrory that while the role of the Lib Dems in government brings him pride, the global situation keeps him awake at nights – and obliges us to reconsider our place in the world.
Monday 27th June 2011
MP demands protection for Iranian refugees
Mark Williams MP urges the government to avoid a "humanitarian catastrophe" by supporting the international protection of Iranian refugees in Camp Ashraf, Iraq.
Thursday 23rd June 2011
Aid to India 'should be cut in 2015'
Britain should continue to give development aid to India for the time being but should stop in 2015, a committee of MPs has recommended.
Tuesday 14th June 2011
Gaddafi 'on the defensive'
William Hague has said Colonel Gaddafi is "isolated and on the defensive".
Tuesday 14th June 2011
PM announces aid to vaccinate world's poor
The prime minister has pledged to donate an additional £814m to vaccinate the world's poorest children against preventable diseases like pneumonia and diarrhoea.
Monday 13th June 2011
Duty bound budget
The government has reaffirmed a pledge to increase aid spending to 0.7 per cent of national income. International development minister Alan Duncan tells Sam Macrory why this is justified at a time when most other departments are dealing with budget cuts
Friday 10th June 2011
PM pledges aid to 'Arab Spring' nations
The prime minister has pledged £110m of aid to support economic and political reform in north Africa and the Middle East.
Friday 27th May 2011
Obama: 'The time for our leadership is now'
Barak Obama has said British and American values mean the two allies remain "indispensible" to the world.
Wednesday 25th May 2011
Obama to speak in Westminster Hall
US President Barack Obama will today insist the relationship between the US and UK is key to providing global security after a "difficult decade".
Wednesday 25th May 2011
Treatment of Christians around the world
David Simpson MP says the UK has a duty to use "all of our influence" to help those who suffer injustice around the world.
Tuesday 24th May 2011
Cable talks down Brown IMF bid
Gordon Brown's prospects of heading the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have suffered a further blow.
Thursday 19th May 2011
Aid commitment 'will happen'
David Cameron has said he is committed to spending 0.7 per cent of GDP on international aid, despite apparent objections from Liam Fox.
Tuesday 17th May 2011
Government lacks evidence on returned asylum-seekers
The Lord Bishop of Winchester asks what evidence the government has to demonstrate that asylum-seekers returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo will be safe.
Tuesday 17th May 2011
Fox denies seeking 'regime change' in Libya
Liam Fox has denied seeking regime change as he condemned the "unacceptable slaughter" of civilians.
Monday 16th May 2011
UK has 'no obligation' to bail-out eurozone
Lord Willoughby de Broke argues that Alistair Darling's decision to join the European Financial Stability Mechanism was "weak and foolish."
Thursday 12th May 2011
Who appoints our man in Brussels?
Douglas Carswell MP says elected MPs, rather than Whitehall grandees, should decide who represents Britain in Brussels.
Tuesday 10th May 2011
Peer urges government action to resolve Middle East crisis
'Israel has been indulged for too long, and the rights of Palestinians under international law have been ignored' - Baroness Tonge writes for us ahead of her question in the Lords today.
Wednesday 4th May 2011
Hague defends strike that killed Gaddafi's son
William Hague has defended the military strike that killed one of Colonel Gaddafi's sons in Tripoli over the weekend.
Tuesday 3rd May 2011
Cameron to deliver statement on Bin Laden death
The US operation that led to the death of Osama Bin Laden was "justified, lawful and right", David Cameron has said.
Tuesday 3rd May 2011
Is the government right to commit extra aid to Pakistan?
Should the government commit extra aid to Pakistan? Conservative MPs Rehman Chishti and Philip Davies disagree.
Tuesday 3rd May 2011
Tory MP fears Cameron 'misled' Parliament
The only Tory MP to vote against committing British forces to police the no-fly zone over Libya has said there is a "fair chance" the government misled Parliament over the real aim of the mission.
Wednesday 20th April 2011
Cameron plays down Brown IMF bid
The prime minister has appeared to rule out Gordon Brown's chances to become head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Tuesday 19th April 2011
UK to fund aid effort in Libyan city
The UK government is to help foreign workers escape Misurata and provide vital medical supplies to those caught up in violence across western Libya, the international development secretary has announced
Monday 18th April 2011
How does the Speaker recall Parliament?
Government ministers must approach the Speaker for a recall of Parliament.
Friday 15th April 2011
Tory MP asks for recall of Parliament
A Conservative MP has written to the Speaker asking for a recall of Parliament so the government can make a statement on Libya.
Friday 15th April 2011
Haw faces removal as court appeal fails
The mayor of London has said he is pleased the High Court has ruled that two protesters are not allowed to sleep on Parliament Square.
Friday 15th April 2011
Typhoons grounded due to lack of parts
The RAF has been forced to ground some Typhoon jets due to a lack of spare parts, MPs have found.
Friday 15th April 2011
DfID warned on fraud and corruption
Government foreign aid chiefs must step up efforts to identify potential fraud as increased amounts of finances are directed to corruption-prone countries, according to a report.
Wednesday 6th April 2011
UK must support Burundi
The UK must not overlook the importance of Burundi to an unstable region, the Lord Bishop of Wakefield says.
Tuesday 5th April 2011
Britain to supply Libyan rebels
William Hague has told MPs that the National Security Council has decided to supply the Libyan opposition movement with telecommunications equipment.
Monday 4th April 2011
The real line in the sand
However much we wish to empower the Libyan rebels, writes Sir Menzies Campbell, Iraq and Afghanistan teach us that UN legitimacy has to be the watchword.
Monday 4th April 2011
Nato risks becoming a 'paper tiger'
European weakness will lead to Nato becoming a 'paper tiger', the alliance's former secretary general has said.
Friday 1st April 2011
Clegg and Biden to renew special relationship
Aides to the deputy prime minister must be hoping his meeting with the gaffe-prone vice president does not result in a transatlantic Calamity Clegg moment.
Wednesday 30th March 2011
UK and France tell Gaddafi to quit
Colonel Gaddafi must quit as Libyan leader "immediately", Britain and France have said.
Monday 28th March 2011
Military MPs worry about Libya action
Is Nato the rebel airforce? Sam Macrory finds major reservations about the intervention in Libya among some MPs who have seen military action themselves.
Monday 28th March 2011
The Libya questions Cameron did not answer
British military involvement – and the strategy on which it is based – seems to have a worrying degree of finger-crossing at its core.
Monday 21st March 2011
MPs give 'cautious support' to Libya action
Foreign policy heavyweights in the Commons have lent cautious support to military action in Libya, while expressing unease at the long term plan.
Monday 21st March 2011
Should Parliament have been recalled early?
British forces enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya has once again raised the question of parliamentary approval for military action.
Monday 21st March 2011
No-fly zones: lessons from the 1990s
Air Commodore (retd) Dr Peter Gray assesses the no-fly zones of the 1990s, imposed under UNSCR authority over Iraq and Bosnia, and seeks to draw practical lessons from them.
Monday 21st March 2011
Somaliland 'yearns for international recognition'
Lord Anderson of Swansea calls on the international community to recognise the autonomy of the Somaliland region of northern Somalia.
Monday 21st March 2011
No-fly zone prevented 'bloody massacre'
Swift military action against Colonel Gaddafi was necessary to avoid the slaughter of the Libyan opposition movement, David Cameron has told MPs.
Monday 21st March 2011
Commons to debate no-fly zone
MPs will be given a chance to approve military action against Gaddafi on Monday, as French jets have taken to the skies above Libya.
Friday 18th March 2011
RAF to target Gaddafi
Britain will deploy RAF Tornados and Typhoons to enforce a UN backed no-fly zone over Libya, David Cameron has told the Commons.
Friday 18th March 2011
UN agrees to Libya no-fly zone
David Cameron will address the House of Commons today following the adoption of a resolution by the United Nations that calls for a no-fly zone to be imposed over Libya.
Friday 18th March 2011
Revolutions demonstrate importance of rule of law
If the Middle East is going to escape the cycle of violence and authoritarian government then it has to develop the rule of law, says Lord Soley.
Wednesday 16th March 2011
No-fly zone needs 'clear, legal base'
William Hague has told MPs that a UN resolution would not be the only legal basis on which a no-fly zone could be imposed over Libya.
Tuesday 15th March 2011
Britain 'does not pay bribes'
The government has denied paying bribes to Colonel Gaddafi in order to evacuate British citizens from Libya.
Thursday 10th March 2011
World 'needs response' to natural disasters
The international community needs to be ready to respond to natural disasters and help countries with their recovery needs, says Gareth Thomas MP.
Tuesday 8th March 2011
Britain steps up aid effort in North Africa
Britain has launched an operation to airlift thousands of Egyptians stranded on the Libyan-Tunisian border back home, David Cameron has told MPs.
Wednesday 2nd March 2011
MPs fault coalition's Afghan campaign
Evidence suggests that the current counter-insurgency measures in Afghanistan are not succeeding, according to a group of MPs.
Wednesday 2nd March 2011
MPs urge more World Bank scrutiny
The World Bank is in "desperate" need of reform and in need of greater parliamentary scrutiny of its spending, a group of MPs have said.
Tuesday 1st March 2011
Cameron hints at Libyan no-fly zone
David Cameron has said the government is considering imposing a no-fly zone over Libya as the pressure grows on Colonel's Gaddafi's regime.
Monday 28th February 2011
Gaddafi warned "day of reckoning" will come
William Hague has warned Colonel Gaddafi that he will be punished for his violent crack down on protestors in Libya.
Monday 28th February 2011
MPs 'turning their backs' on foreign affairs
The House of Commons is pushing itself to the margins by turning its back on the Arab revolt, says Denis MacShane.
Monday 28th February 2011
The minister who met Gaddafi
Mike O'Brien, who as a Foreign Office minister met Colonel Gaddafi in 2002, says Britain had no choice but to deal with the Libyan leader.
Friday 25th February 2011
Cameron returns home
The prime minister has returned to Britain today to take personal charge of the efforts to rescue Britons from Libya.
Friday 25th February 2011
Cameron apologises for delayed Libya evacuation
David Cameron has said he is "extremely sorry" for the government's response to the crisis in Libya.
Thursday 24th February 2011
Democracy a 'process not an event'
David Cameron has distanced himself from previous British foreign policy by declaring he is a "liberal-conservative rather than a neo-conservative".
Wednesday 23rd February 2011
Cameron continues Middle East tour
David Cameron is set for talks in Qatar today, after using a speech in Kuwait to hail a "precious moment of opportunity" for reform in the region.
Wednesday 23rd February 2011
Cameron lands in Cairo
David Cameron has landed in Cairo at the start of a tour of the Middle East to promote political reform as protests grip the region.
Monday 21st February 2011
Cameron lands in Cairo
David Cameron has landed in Cairo at the start of a tour of the Middle East as protests grip the region.
Monday 21st February 2011
Giving women a voice
100 'Godmothers' met at the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday to demand adequate funding for the new agency, UN Women, writes Baroness Kramer.
Thursday 17th February 2011
France and Britain should 'work together'
Lord Anderson of Swansea asks whether the government has any proposals to build on the recent treaties with France on bilateral co-operation by exploring initiatives for diplomatic and foreign policy co-operation.
Wednesday 16th February 2011
Sudan needs international support if it is to prosper
Following a landmark independence referendum in Southern Sudan, Baroness Cox highlights the continuing plight of the emerging country.
Monday 7th February 2011
UK 'must recognise Palestine'
The UK must "recognise Palestine as a sovereign state", urges Baroness Tonge.
Thursday 3rd February 2011