David Miliband

Goose that Laid the Golden Egg

So said Winston Churchill about the code breakers at Bletchley Park during WW2, some of whom I had the honour and privilege to meet yesterday when I was able to present commemorative awards for their service.  Bletchley is a remarkable testament to British spirit, ingenuity, tenacity - and the veterans of Bletchley deserved recognition well before now.  As I said in my speech this was one of the easiest decisions I have had - who could be against awarding these remarkable people a commemorative award.
 
Bletchley stands in the middle of the country near Milton Keynes and consists of Nissen Huts and a 'mansion'.  By 1943 some 10,000 people were working on the project to break Axis codes, most famously 'enigma'.  The men and (mainly) young women there were drawn from all walks of life.  They worked in cells that prevented anyone from understanding the whole project.  But the effect was serious - some historians estimate it shortened the war by two years.  For all those fighting on the field of battle the back up work made a huge difference.
 
Last month the Prime Minister rectified a long term wrong in the case of Alan Turing, persecuted for his sexuality after his outstanding service for his country during the war.  It was striking at yesterday's ceremony how many of the veterans remarked on the importance of the Turing apology.
 
Bletchley has just got a big lottery grant.  It welcomes some 100,000 visitors a year, and I was privileged to be there.

Posted at 11:43 10 October 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[1]

President Zardari

The accession of President Zardari to the leadership of Pakistan is a key moment for Pakistan. His election with a 68% majority completes the transition to full democratic civilian rule for the first time in 9 years. It is vital that the Pakistan government does not suffer the fate of previous Pakistan governments.

I spoke to President Zardari yesterday and the Prime Minister is speaking to him today to emphasise Britain's commitment to work with the people in Pakistan at all levels, above all on the twin issues of the economy and security. My two visits to Pakistan revealed a country of teeming energy but also unfulfilled aspirations. The striking thing is that political, economic and security aspirations go together. Polling in the FATA shows that politics as well as security are top of the agenda.

Civilian rule needs to show itself up to the task of short term improvement as well as long term legitimacy. Britain can and will help through official channels and development aid and security support, but also through the unofficial channels of people-to-people links from our own British Pakistani community.

Posted at 14:19 08 September 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[10]

Cool Biz

Former Prime Minister Koizumi apparently issued a diktat that government buildings should be no cooler than 28 degrees - that explains the very informal unbuttoned shirts at the G8 foreign ministers meeting.  Very comfortable it was too.  I gather it is not true that some zealous Japanese civil servants insisted that the former PM meant no more or less than 28 degrees - prompting a rash of central heating on cooler summer days.

Posted at 17:16 27 June 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[2]

1000 years since the Genji

It's over 20 years since I was in Kyoto as part of a summer student programme. This is Japan's historic capital (until 1868) and was the home of the Genji Dynasty (1000 years ago).  36 hours here for the G8 Foreign Ministers' involves fleeting glimpses of the city and of Japanese life: a tea ceremony (ever heard of whisked green tea?), extreme courtesy and welcome to Westerners, no chances taken on policing the motorcade, and a city encircled by strikingly green woods.

Posted at 15:28 27 June 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[1]

Minister of the Year

Europe Minister Jim Murphy has rightly and deservedly been named Minister of the Year, voted so in one of the annual competitions by his fellow Parliamentarians.  His embrace of the daunting European brief, and especially his command of detail, his good humour towards friends and foes, and his ability to get by on limited sleep and not noticeably healthy diet, more than merited the award.  I think secretly he began to enjoy the cut and thrust after 14 days on the floor of the House of Commons...

Posted at 14:59 23 June 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[7]

Cluster munitions

It was nice to be able to join Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Store in person in Oslo on 29 May to congratulate him on his initiative that eventually brought together 109 countries in Dublin to agree a treaty banning cluster munitions. As he said at our press conference on 30 May it sets a new "norm" for the world - and should do so. The United Kingdom has always argued it would sign a good treaty and the detailed work on definitions and interoperability issues made the difference over the last week. Like the anti-personnel mine ban convention of 1997 this treaty should set a new global standard.

Posted at 10:38 02 June 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[7]

Hope in Iraq

This is the theme of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's speech to the first international compact review conference on Iraq. All Iraq's economic and political partners are here. The progress on security - from 1500 attacks a week to less than 300 - is striking, as is economic growth (including oil production). But the problems are still immense and that makes the next year of the compact key.

I used my meeting with Foreign Minister Zebari to reflect on the need for continued cooperation on the issue of the five British hostages taken in Baghdad. Today marks the first anniversary of their seizure. They and their families have suffered terribly as their testimony today shows. We have not forgotten them.

Posted at 17:44 29 May 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[3]

I went to a match and diplomacy broke out

Arsenal-Sunderland on the last day of the season was meant to be the premiership decider. It didn't quite work out that way....but the Irish connection at Sunderland brought the new Irish Foreign Minisiter to the north east. So Anglo-Irish talks featured in the board room for the first time.

Posted at 12:25 12 May 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[0]

Chelsea-Manchester United

I was glad to be able to open my bilateral meeting on Thursday night with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov by telling him that Zetin St Petersburg were beating Bayern Munich and therefore their fans would be on the way to Manchester. I raised the visa preparations for Chelsea and Man U fans for the Champions League final in Moscow. He was fully on top of the arrangements, committed to contributing to a great final, and confident the administrative arrangements would work.

Posted at 20:53 04 May 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[4]

Kevin Rudd – Star

I first met the new mandarin-speaking Prime Minister of Australia in the 1990s. He was a remarkably resilient traveller and thinker during the long period of opposition for the Australian Labour Party. Admittedly the destination where we met for conferences, Bellagio in Italy, made up for the rigours of travel. But his travels are now being put to good use as he showed in his speech in London last week, arguing for “creative middle power diplomacy”. Rudd argued that we should shape the global response to global challenges together – us because of the links to Europe, them because of their links to Asia, both of us because of our links to the USA. Now fully part of the climate, terrorism, financial regulation debates, Australia embodies the point that in a small world anyone can carve out a leadership role.

Posted at 11:02 16 April 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[6]