Christopher Montgomery

Theory Has the plan worked? After forty odd years of struggle, are we finally about to end up with the Europe we\’ve always wanted? Well that, obviously enough, would depend upon who, in this instance, we are, and what it is we consider \’Europe\’ to be, or about to be. A very credible case is … Continue reading “What Europe Will Do To America\’s Friends”

One blank is filled in by \’France\’, and the other by \’the United States\’; the writer is British, Eurosceptic, from the Conservative Party\’s right wing, and is writing in The Daily Telegraph. The two sentences are separated by the sum total of 58 words, and Mr Andrew Roberts (author of the recently published Churchill and … Continue reading “Hardly Even Au Revoir”

My goodness, but you wouldn\’t want to be French or German. Not, at any rate, if you read what their English speaking friends have to say about them. Popping up in The Times yesterday, Max Boot (he gets about) offered the helpful suggestion that to understand French diplomacy, what one really needed was a \’shrink\’. … Continue reading “You Don\’t Have to Be Brave To Be French”

One thing you have to say about being opposed to this March’s Gulf War is that, there’s nothing desperately brave in being so. It’s a conceit of too many anti-war activists that by bravely striking out against this silly crusade, they’re taking on innumerable and implacable forces. In fact, in just about every country likely … Continue reading “If I Were a Cynic…”

Burying Caesar, Graham Stewart, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £25.00, pp. 533. Mindful of recent admonitions in the TLS about this sort of thing, I should immediately state an interest: namely friendship with the author. That said this is a splendid, splendid book. And as for the author himself, only Robert Brown\’s description of Ward Hadlow will … Continue reading “Burying Caesar”

After the Heritage Foundation gave Lady Thatcher their Clare Boothe Luce award – presented by Vice President Cheney – the Iron Lady defied doctor’s orders, and made a little speech. She warned us that we face the ‘twin headed monster’ of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, and moreover she praised her successor, as Prime … Continue reading “A Much Admired Country”

Shall we agree on a few things? If Mr Blix and his Unmovic chums are even squinted at by some Ba’athist oaf, that will be pretext enough for war. If there is then a war, it will, presumably, be waged at least as efficiently as the last one – and although there will be heap … Continue reading “What to Do With Iraq?”

One of the under-explored aspects of the upcoming war against Iraq is whether it’s really upcoming at all. Whether, in fact, it’s much as many of the leading personalities involved – Colin Powell, a plurality of his American peers still in uniform, even by times, President Bush himself (and of course the hapless British) – … Continue reading “Our Sorry State”

Conservative scribblers across the English speaking world looking for a tired witticism never wait long before moaning about defence – ‘why can’t we be honest, why can’t we call it "Attack"? Why can’t we bring back good old-fashioned names for army departments like the "War Office"? Let’s stop being so PC and let’s start being … Continue reading “Defending Britain”

Last week we looked at Mr David Frum, and we found him so incredible and fantastic that we felt we’d have to come back and look at him some more this week. Our initial interest in him was excited by this stray Canuck being inflicted on right wing British newspaper-readers as a guide to all … Continue reading “David Frum’s Guide to Mythology, Part II”