I have always thought that foreign-policy idealism has to be tempered with realism.

How long do Syrian families have to live in fear that their children will be killed or tortured, before the Security Council will act? How many people need to die before the consciences of world capitals are stirred?

I know people are fickle.

It is not my policy to hit voters during the election.

Let's not be afraid to speak the common sense truth: you can't have high standards without good discipline.

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 at that level.

Where defining foreign policy as 'ethical' went wrong was that it implied that all decisions would be exclusive in every respect of any dealings with unethical regimes.