David Lidington Quotes
When Theresa May asked me to resolve policy disagreements between ministers, my power to do that depended on the fact that I was acting on her behalf with her delegated authority.
Lidington, David. "The machinery of government is broken." Prospect Magazine, 22 Jan. 2021.
1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor
He had little difficulty until he and the British Government announced the plan to grant independence to India. At that point the Muslim League came up with the notion of Partition of India which polarized the Indian politicians mostly along religious lines, and much of India was "up for grabs". No one wanted to concede anything to the other side as this might strengthen the other side's image of its power and just encourage them to go for more. Wavell's job became impossible.
Viscount Morley of Blackburn
Powell’s views and advice to the President regarding Iraq were diametrically opposite that of Vice President Cheney, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and National Security Advisor Condy Rice. The President sadly rejected Powell’s advice. He was right, but he was also a trained professional staff man who maintains his loyalty and does not quit just because his advice is not taken. Many believe that if he had resigned in the political rather than military tradition, the nation might have been spared much of the loss and embarrassment the Iraq invasion and occupation cost us.
Whithead’s view which seems intuitively right to most citizens, tends to be the one that the majority espouses but the minority opposes. At the time, the Republicans controlled the White House and there were a number of polarizing issues, where the Republicans could not obtain consensus and then decided. However, then the Democrats gained control of the White House and Congress the next year, it was the Democrats who claimed that they had to decide. The Republicans, now in the majority, argued that significant changes in America should not be made by narrow majorities and major issues should be tabled if there was no substantial majority. That was the position that the Democrats had espoused when they were in the minority.
Sir David Roy Lidington KCB CBE is a British politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aylesbury from 1992 until 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office from 2018 to 2019 and was frequently described as being Theresa May's de facto Deputy Prime Minister.
