RT HON LORD HURD OF WESTWELL CH CBE delivered a speech on the theme “BRITAIN’S PLACE IN THE WORLD” at a Dinner and Book Signing evening in London SW3.
Lord Hurd, age 81 retired as Foreign Secretary in July 1995, after a distinguished career in Government spanning sixteen years. After positions as Minister of State in the Foreign Office and the Home Office, he served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1984-85, Home Secretary from 1985-89 and Foreign Secretary 1989–1995 in the Governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major.
Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, Lord Hurd obtained a first class degree in history and was President of the Cambridge Union in 1952. After joining the Diplomatic Service, he went on to serve at the Foreign office in Peking, New York (UN) and Rome. He ran Edward Heath’s private office from 1968 - 70 and acted as his Political Secretary at 10 Downing Street from 1970 - 74. He was MP for Mid-Oxfordshire (later Witney) from 1974 to 1997. He was created a Life Peer in 1997.
He was appointed Deputy Chairman of NatWest Markets and a main Board director of NatWest Group in 1995, retiring from the Board in April 1999 and leaving the NatWest Group at the end of January 2000. In early 1998 he became Deputy Chairman of Coutts & Co. He was Chairman of the Advisory Committee of Hawkpoint Partners Limited from 1998 until 2001, and later until the end of 2010 a Senior Adviser to the Company. He is a President of the German-British Forum and in November 2000 he was also appointed Chairman of CEDR Advisory Council (The Centre for Dispute Resolution).
Lord Hurd was Chairman of the Prison Reform Trust Charity from 1998 until January 2001, becoming Honorary President in October 2001. He was Chairman of British Invisibles from 1997 until April 2000. He was Chairman of the 1998 Booker Prize for Fiction. He became a Member of the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords in February 1999, and a Member of the Appointments Commission from 2000 until 2010. In September 1999 he was appointed as the High Steward of Westminster Abbey. He was a President of the Royal Institute of International Affairs in September 2001.
Lord Hurd lives in Oxfordshire. He has three grown-up sons from his first marriage, and a son and daughter from his marriage to Judy Hurd, who died in November 2008. His other pursuits include writing, walking and reading. His latest books include The Search for Peace (with the 1997 BBC TV Series), The Shape of Ice (a novel, 1998), Ten Minutes to Turn the Devil (a collection of short stories, 1999), and Image in the Water (a novel, 2001). His memoirs were published in October 2003. His biography of Sir Robert Peel was published in June 2007, and he then completed with Edward Young a book on eleven British Foreign Secretaries with the title “Choose Your Weapons”, which was published in February 2010. He is working with Edward Young on a biography of Disraeli.
NOTES AND QUOTES OF HIS SPEECH
Lord Hurd described Churchill as fanning the blaze in favour of Western involvement: "Westward look, the land is bright". This relationship has been patterned with occasional tiffs. The Anglo-American partnership worked well, however.
There was the question of whether Saddam Hussein would have used chemical weapons against our nation. The Iraquis ended up scampering back and the war was won. American machinery was at work - working at its best - even though we had our squabbles. We are now the junior partner. David Cameron is leader of an allied Coalition and he reserved his fire for something that is crucial for Britain. The Americans used shrewd calculation with their interests in the world. We should be hard-headed in our relationship with them.
Europe: "I was Shadow something or other for Europe" said Lord Hurd. Margaret Thatcher would start her conversation with her own views and some diplomats would interrupt; however the Spaniards would flatter her. Europe is a mess because there is a failure in leadership - because we haven't joined the Euro. We pay a price for not joining - we are drifting out of Europe. We should pull out of a nosedive. It is not in our interests to have a desolate Europe unable to trade with us.
William Hague has brought a "bite of fresh air" to the Foreign Office.
He ended on a point about Russia; Putin's Russia. He is a cool cunning person trained to look ahead. You suck up to him at every stage, but he is a cool customer so you deal with him in this way - "you need to watch him".