1. Tony Blair has profoundly devalued the office of prime minister and the Dodgy Dossier should be placed on the Fourth Plinth to mark his dishonour.
2. “Something must be done” and “never again” are understandable human reactions, not policy positions.
3. No.10 is no longer the natural home of the national interest. The natural interest resides in about 14 different places across the country at any one time.
4. David Cameron’s decision not to use the Royal Perogative has ineluctably shifted power to a compromise of representatives – weaker in resolution, wiser in outcome.
5. The British people are relaxed about – or reconciled to – our position in the world – as an enlightened trading nation whose greatest export is jaw-jaw not war-war.
6. Foreign policy is now encoded in the Prayer of St Francis of Assissi – O God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. (PS And, while you’re at it, God, give that ficklelite Ed Miliband an uncomfortable rash).
7. The British people are not that fussed about the Special Relationship because (a) they recognise it was always meaningless flummery and driven by political vanity (b) The US hasn’t been fussed about it for years – and Obama for a lifetime (c) self-interest not sentimentalism always wins the day and (d) they’ll come back at teatime when they’re hungry.
8. The sacrifice of veterans – the sight of flag-draped coffins, of limbless ex-servicemen in the Paralympics, and of soldiers fighting demons – is the single most potent legacy of the Iraq/Afghanistan adventure. This generation now has its scars.
9. “Speak softly and carry a big stick” is a great outlook, once you’ve worked out the payment plan on the big stick.
10. A politician’s conscience, memory and instinct to “do the right thing” are site-specific (ie, government or opposition benches).
11. No-one ever wins – not the war, the peace, the vote, the applause or the recognition.
12. For evil to prosper it is sufficient that good men do nothing remarkable.
13. Winston Churchill has left the building.
