“You do have to do business with and to try to influence people you don't agree with, or find disagreeable, so it's important to stress that balance.”
Business
“I'm not, nor is anybody I know in government part of a nasty right wing clique.”
GovernmentAll Quotes by William Hague
“There's only one growth strategy: work hard.”
Work“The war in Iraq, clearly has not turned out in the way that was hoped.”
War“People feel that the EU is a one-way process, a great machine that sucks up decision-making from national parliaments to the European level until everything is decided by the EU. That needs to change.”
Change“The people of Britain want a Home Secretary who will give them back their streets. They want a Home Secretary who will speak up for the victim, not the criminal.”
Home“Inspiring scenes of people taking the future of their countries into their own hands will ignite greater demands for good governance and political reform elsewhere in the world, including in Asia and in Africa.”
Future“We have to face the reality of climate change. It is arguably the biggest threat we are facing today.”
Change“To the teacher weighed down with paperwork, I say: you've been messed around too often. You came into teaching to spend your time teaching children not filling in forms.”
Teacher“As far as I'm aware, everybody in the shadow cabinet accepts that there's a compelling case on climate change and a strong scientific case.”
Change“The message I take all round the world is Britain is open for business.”
Business“I think the way things have been left after Iraq is that people won't believe the Government of the day, so they have to know that lessons have been learnt and that all political parties and people, whether they were for or against the invasion of Iraq, have learnt lessons.”
Government“I trust the people.”
Trust“When a Cabinet Minister who is sacked for telling lies is re-appointed, in the face of every constitutional convention, only for the same man to be sacked again from the same Cabinet for the same offence by the same Prime Minister no wonder the public are cynical about politics.”
Politics“I think Britain would be alright, if only we had a different Government.”
Government“The world is not going into concentric blocs of power. It is actually going into a diffusion of power with more centres of decision-making than ever in human civilisation. That requires you to place yourself in far more hubs of power than ever before.”
Power“At a time of such hope and optimism in the Middle East, we cannot let the Libyan government violate every principle of international law and human rights with impunity.”
Government“I believe we should reframe our response to climate change as an imperative for growth rather than merely being a way of being green or meeting environmental commitments.”
Change“It's really necessary for the United States to continue to give strong leadership to the Middle East peace process, supported by European countries at the same time.”
Leadership“Let's not be afraid to speak the common sense truth: you can't have high standards without good discipline.”
Good“We hope that the long darkness through which the Burmese people have lived may now be coming to an end.”
Hope