Dominic Raab Quotes

The big lesson of Reagan is: To think that he was some sort of simple figurehead and didn't do the thinking and simply read a script in front of him woefully underestimates him. Ronald Reagan was an extremely intelligent person with a real V8 engine under his hood.

The true statesman is the one who is willing to take risks.

We hope that there will be better policy-making and hope to see projects implemented. We have lots of information that can be used for the implementation of projects.

What matters is not a simple sense of an issue’s salience, but whether a government can shape outcomes on it, where there is the greatest likelihood that the parties will actually be able to implement their policies.

If the President had his wife’s will and would use it rightly, our affairs would look much better.

The first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.

Presidents today spend more time speaking than they do reading or thinking.

Energy in the executive is a leading character in the definition of a good government.

Debates measure abilities you don't need to govern, like glibness. To govern you should be thoughtful, not glib. A debater has a sense of humor, but what's it got to do with governing? The ability to think on your feet. You make a budget sitting on your tush.

As PM, you have got to do everything from chairing the Cabinet to ceremonial things. You have also got to do the nitty gritty. I do get stuck into the detail.

No country has left the E.U. since Greenland in 1985 and no one believes that delivering what the people voted for will be a walk in the park, so it's important that the person ultimately chosen by the party membership is tried and tested, capable of making tough decisions and can lead a team negotiating with E.U. institutions.

We have all the good policies, all right visions, but the problem is implementation. When we come out of national conference, we want those leaders we have chosen to be those who can implement policies.

You've got to demonstrate you're capable of developing policies but, more importantly, you're capable of implementing them.

I don't think more mega-summits is the way to secure effective implementation.

I would have thought that they [Boris Johnson and Nigel Farag] would have had a plan,instead of developing a plan they are leaving the boat.

[George W. Bush] has balls. And he's a leader. Unfortunately his balls and leadership are in the service of shitty ideas. We need his balls on someone who thinks right.

I think Obama has been skilled and farsighted in a lot of the stuff that he's done. And in other things, unskilled and not farsighted. On balance I'd say that he is doing most of what he said he'd do.

President Bush has proven he'll take a stand and fight for his programs and initiatives. It's the kind of leadership that makes things happen.

It's far from clear in general that Donald Trump is a guy who really thinks about the details of policy and is going to do the kind of heavy lifting you have to do as president to get those policies through in Congress. I think the hope is that Paul Ryan and his crew will push policies through Congress and Trump will just sign them. That's not really how policy works.

Winston Churchill used to say that we, Americans, try every other option before we finally do the right thing. After everything else is exhausted we eventually do the right thing and I think that's true for Congress as well. And it's important for Americans to remember that politics has always been messy.

Not all civil servants admire strong political leadership. But if you want to change things for the better you need strong political leadership.

That's one thing about Republican Presidents. They never went in much for plans. They only had one plan. It says "Boys, my head is turned. Just get it while you can.

I think, as a president, you have to want respect. You can't look for love from the American people. You have to just do what you think is right. Some people will hate you, but others, in the long run, will respect you for what you've done.

Policymakers think that if they get the abstractions right, that will drive behavior in the desired direction. But the world happens in real time.

I don't think we do a great job in America any more of distinguishing between campaigns and governance. We live in an environment that's all campaign all of the time and it's helpful, now that we've moved beyond a campaign and an election to get into a governance posture.