Bob Ainsworth Quotes

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Bob Ainsworth

Profession : Politician

Birth : June 19, 1952

I am extremely honoured to be the Defence Secretary, and I would not do the job if I did not think that I could make a useful contribution in the role.

Bob Ainsworth

I'll tell you what I do have: I have a good feel for ordinary people, for politics, and those are my strengths. I understand, I hope instinctively, where many of our Armed Forces come from.

Bob Ainsworth

As the Chief of the Defence Staff says, you don't defend on the goal line. Defending the interests of the U.K. means tackling threats early and at source, and that means intervening overseas.

Bob Ainsworth

It's true that people were told facial hair was not appreciated by the British public, but I just decided to keep the moustache.

Bob Ainsworth

On the back benches, you can have your say but no power to do anything.

Bob Ainsworth

We in the West walked away from Afghanistan at the end of the Cold War and left it as a country devastated socially and armed to the teeth. If we do that again, there will be consequences.

Bob Ainsworth

We need a leader able to project his or her personality and present our policies in today's media environment. All this is true - but we also need a leader capable of building a team, inspiring loyalty from colleagues, and one genuinely open to ideas.

Bob Ainsworth

We have tended in politics in this country to concentrate on the domestic, on the here and now - the 'what's in it for me'.

Bob Ainsworth

The last thing we want to do is to go into an area and inflict unnecessary civilian casualties. One is too many.

Bob Ainsworth