Crispin Blunt

“Turkey is an important strategic partner facing a volatile period. It needs and deserves our support, but that support needs to include our critique where Turkish policy is not in its own, or our, joint long-term interests: these are regional security and stability as well as strong and accountable institutions in Turkey.”

“In 2008, Damian Green, then shadow immigration minister, had his parliamentary office raided without a warrant, by the Metropolitan police, after he was implicated in leaking Home Office documents that were politically embarrassing to the then Labour government.”

“It always had occurred to me that drugs misuse was obviously a major driver of demand in the criminal justice system.”

“There are some times when something is proposed which becomes personal to you and you realize the Government is about to do something fantastically stupid and I think in those circumstances one has a duty to speak up.”

“For all those who seek to maintain the rules-based international order, Russia presents a challenge.”

“In delivering the agreed objective of a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process, the removal of Isis from its territory in Syria by Syrian forces, the Syrian army and the Syrian Free Army fighting alongside each other is an opportunity to bind wounds.”

“U.K. policy in Libya before and since the intervention of March 2011 was founded on erroneous assumptions and an incomplete understanding of the country and the situation.”

“Trump has shown that there are limits to how brutal the maximalists can afford to be.”

“The public don't want prisoners lying about being idle.”

“Many other countries have tried this and getting businesses to work in partnership in prisons, in prison and with prison labour, and to actually be able to make an economic return is extremely difficult.”

“The creeping optimism that there might be a route to peace in Syria remains constrained by the elephant in the room - Bashar al-Assad.”

“Development of a framework for the reporting of cyber incidents between government and industry is considered a priority. This includes the government sharing information with industry and, where possible, providing the research community with cyber-security event data.”

“After a proposal made by us, Saudi Arabia has had a major government reshuffle. Ibrahim al-Assaf has replaced Adel al-Jubeir as foreign minister, and the Saudi ambassador to the U.K. has been recalled to advise King Salman.”

“Saudi Arabia has been commended for allowing women the right to drive; the opening of cinemas and other entertainment establishments; ending the power of arrest of the religious police. In parallel however, there have been arrests of the activists who for years had advocated for these changes.”

“Theresa May's triumph at being the first foreign leader to visit Donald Trump, when she addressed the Republican caucus and advised that it is sensible to engage with Russia but to beware, appears to have come a bit late for Jeff Sessions.”

“There is fear of impoverishment as a narrowly based ideological government, infused with medieval religious rectitude, lays waste to the Egyptian economy, which, given the economy's precariousness, is a clear and present danger to the daily life of millions of Egyptians.”

“There is a tendency for the British establishment to work out everything very carefully and then present it to parliament as 'a take it or leave it' choice. And then ministers wonder why they have difficulties in parliament.”

“We don't comment on special forces operations. And if you run an operation for a long time as we have here, and in Libya, eventually newspapers like the Times report it.”

“Huwaei receives significant funding from the Chinese government and is run by a former director of the telecoms research unit of the People's Liberation Army. The components are feared to have given China the ability to disrupt or shut down key parts of the U.K.'s critical national infrastructure.”

“There is not a shortage of assets in northern Syria but a shortage of targets.”