Difference between revisions of "Alan Duncan"
m |
|||
(2 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown) | |||
Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
|constitutes=politician,deep state operative | |constitutes=politician,deep state operative | ||
|wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Duncan | |wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Duncan | ||
− | |alma_mater= | + | |alma_mater=St John's College (Oxford), Harvard University |
|website=http://www.alanduncan.org.uk | |website=http://www.alanduncan.org.uk | ||
+ | |twitter=https://twitter.com/SirAlanDuncan | ||
|interests=Marc Rich,Benazir Bhutto | |interests=Marc Rich,Benazir Bhutto | ||
|powerbase=https://powerbase.info/index.php/Alan_Duncan | |powerbase=https://powerbase.info/index.php/Alan_Duncan | ||
Line 53: | Line 54: | ||
}} | }} | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | '''Sir Alan Duncan''' is a British Conservative politician and former [[Member of Parliament]] (1992–2019). He is a [[UK]] visitor to [[Le Cercle]] and in 2014 visited [[Bahrain]] with fellow UK Cercle member, [[Geoffrey Tantum]].<ref>https://www.bna.bh/en/InteriorMinisterreceivesUKdignitaries.aspx?cms=q8FmFJgiscL2fwIzON1%2BDuqYhnLnrWnD8zCCppLm7Fk%3D</ref> | + | '''Sir Alan Duncan''' is a British Conservative politician and former [[Member of Parliament]] (1992–2019). He is a [[UK]] visitor to [[Le Cercle]] and in 2014 visited [[Bahrain]] with fellow UK Cercle member, [[Geoffrey Tantum]].<ref>''[https://www.bna.bh/en/InteriorMinisterreceivesUKdignitaries.aspx?cms=q8FmFJgiscL2fwIzON1%2BDuqYhnLnrWnD8zCCppLm7Fk%3D "Bahrain Interior Minister receives UK dignitaries"]''</ref> |
− | Following the 2010 General Election, the new Conservative [[Prime Minister]] [[David Cameron]] appointed Duncan as Minister of State for International Development.<ref>''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100515034600/http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/topstorynews/2010/05/her-majestys-government-49840 "Her Majesty's Government"]''</ref> He left this post following the government reshuffle in July 2014,<ref>''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140725095051/http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Rutland-Melton-MP-Alan-Duncan-receives-knighthood/story-21741500-detail/story.html "Rutland and Melton MP Alan Duncan receives a knighthood"]''</ref> and was | + | Following the 2010 General Election, the new Conservative [[Prime Minister]] [[David Cameron]] appointed Duncan as Minister of State at the [[Department for International Development]].<ref>''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100515034600/http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/topstorynews/2010/05/her-majestys-government-49840 "Her Majesty's Government"]''</ref> He left this post following the government reshuffle in July 2014,<ref>''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140725095051/http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Rutland-Melton-MP-Alan-Duncan-receives-knighthood/story-21741500-detail/story.html "Rutland and Melton MP Alan Duncan receives a knighthood"]''</ref> and was knighted in September 2014 for services to international development and to [[UK]]–[[Middle East]] relations. While on the backbenches, [[Sir Alan Duncan]] served on the [[Intelligence and Security Committee]] between 2015 and 2016.<ref>''[https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/sir-alan-duncan/343 "Rt Hon Sir Alan Duncan MP"]''</ref> |
− | After two years out of government, he returned to frontline politics when new Prime Minister [[Theresa May]] appointed him as Minister for Europe and the Americas, and effective deputy to then-[[Foreign Secretary]] [[Boris Johnson]], in July 2016.<ref>''[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/17/theresa-may-appoints-her-own-spy-at-the-foreign-office-to-keep-a/ "Theresa May appoints her own spy at the Foreign Office to keep a check on Boris Johnson as reshuffle is finalised"]''</ref> [[Sir Alan Duncan]] resigned as Minister of State on 22 July 2019 citing Johnson's election to the Tory leadership and, hence, the UK's premiership.<ref>''[https://news.sky.com/story/foreign-office-minister-sir-alan-duncan-resigns-ahead-of-boris-johnsons-expected-premiership-11768145 "Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan resigns ahead of Boris Johnson's expected premiership]''</ref><ref>''[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49069880 "Tory leadership race: Alan Duncan resigns as minister"]''</ref> | + | After two years out of government, he returned to frontline politics when new Prime Minister [[Theresa May]] appointed him as Minister for Europe and the Americas, and effective deputy to then-[[Foreign Secretary]] [[Boris Johnson]], in July 2016.<ref>''[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/17/theresa-may-appoints-her-own-spy-at-the-foreign-office-to-keep-a/ "Theresa May appoints her own spy at the Foreign Office to keep a check on Boris Johnson as reshuffle is finalised"]''</ref> [[Sir Alan Duncan]] resigned as Minister of State on 22 July 2019 citing Johnson's election to the Tory leadership and, hence, the UK's premiership.<ref>''[https://news.sky.com/story/foreign-office-minister-sir-alan-duncan-resigns-ahead-of-boris-johnsons-expected-premiership-11768145 "Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan resigns ahead of Boris Johnson's expected premiership]''</ref><ref>''[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49069880 "Tory leadership race: Alan Duncan resigns as minister"]''</ref> He decided not to seek re-election at the [[UK/2019 General Election]].<ref>''[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-50241542 "Sir Alan Duncan: MP standing down after 27 years in politics"]''</ref> |
Alan Duncan became the first openly [[Homosexuality|gay]] Conservative Member of Parliament, publicly coming out in 2002.<ref>''[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/jul/29/conservatives.alanduncan "Gay Tory frontbencher comes out"]''</ref> | Alan Duncan became the first openly [[Homosexuality|gay]] Conservative Member of Parliament, publicly coming out in 2002.<ref>''[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/jul/29/conservatives.alanduncan "Gay Tory frontbencher comes out"]''</ref> | ||
==Early life== | ==Early life== | ||
− | Duncan was born in | + | Duncan was born in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, and was educated at two independent schools: Beechwood Park School in Markyate, and Merchant Taylors' School in Northwood, at both of which he was 'Head Monitor' (head boy). He had two brothers, who also attended Beechwood Park School. Their family supported the Liberal Party, and Duncan ran (and lost) as a Liberal at a school mock election in 1970; two years later he joined the Young Conservatives. |
− | + | He then attended [[St John's College, Oxford]], where he coxed the college first eight, and was elected President of the Oxford Union in 1979.<ref>''[https://web.archive.org/web/20071206083030/http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=people.person.page&PersonID=4664 "Conservatives – Alan Duncan MP"]''</ref> Whilst there, he formed a friendship with [[Benazir Bhutto]], and ran her successful campaign to become the President of the Oxford Union. He gained a Kennedy Scholarship to study at [[Harvard University]] between 1981 and 1982. | |
− | + | ==Business Career== | |
+ | After graduating from Oxford, Duncan worked as a trader of oil and refined products, first with [[Royal Dutch Shell]] (1979–81)<ref>''[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/2158632.stm "Profile: Alan Duncan"]''</ref> and then for international commodity broker and oil trader [[Marc Rich]] from 1982 to 1988 in [[London]] and [[Singapore]].<ref>''[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/may/04/conservatives.politicalnews "Shadow minister accused of supplying apartheid regime"]''</ref> | ||
− | + | Opposition MPs in the apartheid [[South Africa]]n parliament in May 1984 named [[Marc Rich]] as one of apartheid's major oil suppliers, breaching voluntary international embargos and contractual obligations imposed by [[OPEC]] producers. Despite repeated and overwhelming votes for a mandatory oil embargo in the [[UN General Assembly]] and a vigorous international campaign throughout the 1980s, individual traders like [[Marc Rich|Rich]] and companies like Shell continued to supply the apartheid regime with its lifeblood. Alan Duncan has consistently played down his involvement with [[US]] broker [[Marc Rich]], maintaining he was too junior in the operation to be closely involved with him.<ref>''[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/may/04/conservatives.politicalnews1 "Top Tory at centre of sanctions busting claims"]''</ref> | |
− | |||
− | In 1989, Duncan set up the independent Harcourt Consultants, which advises on oil and gas matters. | + | Alan Duncan used the connections he had built up and became self-employed from 1988 to 1992, acting as a consultant and adviser to foreign governments on oil supplies, shipping and refining. In 1989, Duncan set up the independent Harcourt Consultants, which advises on oil and gas matters. He made over £1 million after helping fill the need to supply oil to [[Pakistan]] after supplies from [[Kuwait]] had been disrupted in the [[Gulf War]]. |
==Political career== | ==Political career== | ||
− | Duncan was an active member of the | + | Alan Duncan was an active member of the Battersea Conservative Association from 1979 until 1984, when he moved to live in [[Singapore]], from which he returned in 1986. After [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Margaret Thatcher]] resigned in November 1990, he offered his home in Westminster as the headquarters of [[John Major]]'s leadership campaign. |
− | Duncan was involved in the 1997 leadership contest, being the right-hand man of [[William Hague]], the eventual winner. In this capacity, he was called "the closest thing [the Conservatives] have to [[Peter Mandelson]]".<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20080506174051/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=%2Farchive%2F1997%2F06%2F20%2Fnboy220.html</ref> Duncan and Hague had both been at Oxford, both been Presidents of the Oxford Union, and had been close friends since at least the early 1980s. Duncan, openly gay since 2002, once shared a London flat with William Hague, who has felt obliged to deny public speculation about his own sexuality. | + | Duncan was involved in the 1997 leadership contest, being the right-hand man of [[William Hague]], the eventual winner. In this capacity, he was called "the closest thing [the Conservatives] have to [[Peter Mandelson]]".<ref>''[https://web.archive.org/web/20080506174051/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=%2Farchive%2F1997%2F06%2F20%2Fnboy220.html "Loyal colleagues are ready to reap the rewards"]''</ref> Duncan and Hague had both been at Oxford, both been Presidents of the Oxford Union, and had been close friends since at least the early 1980s. Duncan, openly gay since 2002, once shared a London flat with [[William Hague]], who has felt obliged to deny public speculation about his own sexuality. |
− | In 2010 he was a Minister of State at the [[Department for International Development]].<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/may/13/full-list-of-new-cabinet-ministers Full list of new cabinet ministers and other government appointments] | + | In 2010 he was a Minister of State at the [[Department for International Development]].<ref>''[http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/may/13/full-list-of-new-cabinet-ministers "Full list of new cabinet ministers and other government appointments"]''</ref> |
==Libya oil cell== | ==Libya oil cell== | ||
− | During the UK/NATO attack on Libya in 2011, | + | During the [[2011 Attacks on Libya|UK/NATO attack on Libya in 2011]], Alan Duncan was the brain behind the so-called "Libya oil cell", which helped block fuel supplies to the Libyan government while ensuring that petrol and diesel continued to get through to the British-supported rebels in the east. The cell advised [[NATO]] to blockade the port of Zawiya to prevent tankers bringing in fuel for the Gaddafi government's war effort. [[Libya]] had lots of crude but couldn't refine it. They also helped locate other routes the smugglers were using to get fuel into [[Libya]] overland from [[Tunisia]] and [[Algeria]]. |
+ | |||
+ | The cell encouraged London-based oil traders to sell fuel to the rebels in [[Benghazi]] by trying to minimise the risk they would take by having to wait for payment. It also ensured that the oil traders knew who to contact within the rebel hierarchy.<ref>''[https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-14740054 "Landale Online: How UK unit starved Gaddafi of fuel"]''</ref> | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==Focus on the Israel lobby== | ||
+ | In an undercover investigation, [[Al Jazeera]] recorded an Israeli diplomat in [[London]], [[Shai Masot]], caught plotting to "take down" minister Alan Duncan for his opposition the [[Israeli]] occupation of Palestinian territories. The recording show [[Shai Masot|Masot]] discussing the way to proceed in this with [[Maria Strizzolo]], who is allegedly only a UK civil servant.<ref>''[https://www.ajiunit.com/investigation/the-lobby/ "The Lobby"]''</ref> | ||
+ | |||
+ | In his 2019 memoirs, Duncan accused pro-[[Israel lobby]]ists of "the most disgusting interference" in British public life, the [[Conservative Friends of Israel]] (CFI) had been responsible for pushing the country to adopt disproportionately anti-[[Palestinian]] and pro-[[Israel]] policies. "It’s a sort of buried scandal that has to stop… they will interfere at a high level in British politics in the interests of [[Israel]] on the back of donor power in the UK."<ref>''[https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-israel-lobbyists-alan-duncan-interference "UK: Ex-minister accuses pro-Israel lobbyists of 'disgusting interference'"]''</ref> | ||
+ | |||
+ | On 4 April 2024, Duncan was interviewed by [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/henry-riley-774a6a112 LBC's Henry Riley,] who posted on '''[[X]]''':{{QB| | ||
+ | :This is the moment [[Sir Alan Duncan]] called for [[Tom Tugendhat]] to be sacked as Security Minister. | ||
+ | |||
+ | :He says it is time to “flush out those extremists in our own politics, some of whom are at the very top of government. Theyre doing the bidding of [[Netanyahu]], bypassing all proper processes of government, to exercise undue influence at the top of government | ||
− | + | :In addition to [[Tom Tugendhat]] Duncan said the following [[CFI]] members should be removed from government: | |
+ | * [[Lord Polak]] and [[Lord Pickles]] ("Laurel and Hardy who should be pushed out together from the House of Lords") | ||
+ | * [[Suella Braverman]] | ||
+ | * [[Michael Gove]] | ||
+ | * [[Oliver Dowden]] | ||
+ | * [[Priti Patel]] ("She should be reinvestigated because we still don't know who funded her secret trip to [[Israel]] in 2017").<ref>''[https://twitter.com/HenryRiley1/status/1775806395062837718 "This is the moment Sir Alan Duncan called for Tom Tugendhat to be sacked as Security Minister"]''</ref>}} | ||
− | + | After the interview, a [[Conservative Party]] spokesperson said:{{QB| | |
− | + | :"Following his comments on LBC this morning, Alan Duncan has been informed in writing that he is under investigation by the party."<ref>''[https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/alan-duncan-investigated-conservative-party-israel/ "Alan Duncan being investigated by Conservative Party after criticising fellow Tories for Israel support"]''</ref> | |
− | + | :But a defiant [[Sir Alan Duncan]] said the decision to investigate him over accusations he used “[[antisemitic]] tropes” could prove “dangerously harmful” to the party’s reputation.<ref>''[https://www.facebook.com/TheDailyPolitik/videos/419568040662687/ A defiant Sir Alan Duncan said the decision to investigate him over accusations he used 'antisemitic tropes' could prove 'dangerously harmful' to the party’s reputation"]''</ref>}} | |
==US intelligence interest== | ==US intelligence interest== | ||
− | US diplomatic cables published by [[Wikileaks]] | + | US diplomatic cables published by [[Julian Assange]] in [[Wikileaks]] revealed a particular intelligence interest in Alan Duncan, at the time Shadow Minister for Prisons. A 22 January 2010 cable was signed off by [https://www.judicialwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/JW-v-State-Pitterle-deposition-01242.pdf Elissa Pitterle,] head of intelligence operations at the [[US State Department]]. She thanked the London embassy for its intelligence on Duncan's "friendship with ... [[William Hague]]", saying it was "particularly insightful and exceptionally well timed, as analysts are preparing finished products on the Conservative leadership for senior policymakers". |
− | The cable called for further intelligence on "Duncan's relationship with Conservative | + | The cable called for further intelligence on "Duncan's relationship with [[Conservative Party]] leader [[David Cameron]] and [[William Hague]]", and asked: "What role would Duncan play if the Conservatives form a government? What are Duncan's political ambitions?"<ref>''[https://www.theguardian.com/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/244921 "US embassy cables: US shows interest in Alan Duncan"]''</ref><ref>''[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/nov/28/us-spies-dossier-alan-duncan "Spies drew up dossier on Alan Duncan"]''</ref> |
− | === | + | ===Insulting Assange=== |
{{YouTubeVideo | {{YouTubeVideo | ||
|code=9Q5OFcCTrIQ | |code=9Q5OFcCTrIQ | ||
Line 102: | Line 120: | ||
|caption=Alan Duncan calls [[Julian Assange|Assange]] a "miserable little worm" | |caption=Alan Duncan calls [[Julian Assange|Assange]] a "miserable little worm" | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | In March 2018, [[Foreign Office]] minister Alan Duncan responded to | + | In March 2018, [[Foreign Office]] minister Alan Duncan responded to MP [[Patrick McLoughlin]]'s question about [[Julian Assange]] thus:{{QB|"It is of great regret that [[Julian Assange]] remains in the [[Ecuador]] embassy. |
− | "It is of even deeper regret that even last night he was tweeting against Her Majesty's Government for their conduct in replying to the [[Skripal affair|attack in Salisbury]]. | + | "It is of even deeper regret that even last night he was tweeting against [[Her Majesty's Government]] for their conduct in replying to the [[Skripal affair|attack in Salisbury]]. |
"It's about time that this ''miserable little worm'' walked out of the embassy, and gave himself up to British justice."<ref>''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q5OFcCTrIQ "Tory minister calls Assange a 'miserable little worm'"]''</ref>}} | "It's about time that this ''miserable little worm'' walked out of the embassy, and gave himself up to British justice."<ref>''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q5OFcCTrIQ "Tory minister calls Assange a 'miserable little worm'"]''</ref>}} | ||
− | === | + | ===Anticipating Assange's extradition=== |
− | Interviewed in May 2019 about | + | Interviewed in May 2019 about plans to extradite [[Wikileaks]] founder [[Julian Assange]], [[Foreign Office]] Minister Alan Duncan was asked: |
:"You were reportedly responsible for getting [[Julian Assange]] out of the [[Ecuador]]ian embassy. Do you have any regrets about that decision?" | :"You were reportedly responsible for getting [[Julian Assange]] out of the [[Ecuador]]ian embassy. Do you have any regrets about that decision?" | ||
Duncan replied:{{QB|"Regrets? I'm delighted! He should have been out years earlier – he was just there rotting, by his own choice. It's a pity that the previous [[Ecuador]]ian government ever gave him asylum because he was able to get in. And the new government with whom we've been working very closely for a few months have been very sensible and we worked out all the legalities of making sure that we were consistent with the Vienna convention in being invited into the embassy, and that the police were able to do what they had to do. I think frankly if even for his own health it was absolutely the right thing to do. So far from having regrets, I'm definitely delighted that we've got this person out of being holed up in two rooms in the middle of London. As to his extradition, well that's up to the courts, that's up to the lawyers. First of all, he has gone in to a prison in London because he is in breach of his bail conditions. So that UK domestic process will determine how long he remains in prison. If there's an extradition request that will be determined by lawyers and the court – not by me as a politician. So whatever the law and the process of justice delivers, that's what'll happen."<ref>''[https://news.cgtn.com/news/79516a4d34494464776c6d636a4e6e62684a4856/index.html "Julian Assange Extradition: Interview with UK Minister Alan Duncan"]''</ref>}} | Duncan replied:{{QB|"Regrets? I'm delighted! He should have been out years earlier – he was just there rotting, by his own choice. It's a pity that the previous [[Ecuador]]ian government ever gave him asylum because he was able to get in. And the new government with whom we've been working very closely for a few months have been very sensible and we worked out all the legalities of making sure that we were consistent with the Vienna convention in being invited into the embassy, and that the police were able to do what they had to do. I think frankly if even for his own health it was absolutely the right thing to do. So far from having regrets, I'm definitely delighted that we've got this person out of being holed up in two rooms in the middle of London. As to his extradition, well that's up to the courts, that's up to the lawyers. First of all, he has gone in to a prison in London because he is in breach of his bail conditions. So that UK domestic process will determine how long he remains in prison. If there's an extradition request that will be determined by lawyers and the court – not by me as a politician. So whatever the law and the process of justice delivers, that's what'll happen."<ref>''[https://news.cgtn.com/news/79516a4d34494464776c6d636a4e6e62684a4856/index.html "Julian Assange Extradition: Interview with UK Minister Alan Duncan"]''</ref>}} |
Latest revision as of 15:07, 7 April 2024
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() (politician, deep state operative) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Alan James Carter Duncan 1957-03-31 Rickmansworth, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | St John's College (Oxford), Harvard University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Member of | Le Cercle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Interests | • Marc Rich • Benazir Bhutto | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Called Julian Assange a “miserable little worm” in Parliament. UK visitor to Le Cercle. As UK Minister, Alan Duncan organised the oil blockade of Libya in 2011.
|
Sir Alan Duncan is a British Conservative politician and former Member of Parliament (1992–2019). He is a UK visitor to Le Cercle and in 2014 visited Bahrain with fellow UK Cercle member, Geoffrey Tantum.[1]
Following the 2010 General Election, the new Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron appointed Duncan as Minister of State at the Department for International Development.[2] He left this post following the government reshuffle in July 2014,[3] and was knighted in September 2014 for services to international development and to UK–Middle East relations. While on the backbenches, Sir Alan Duncan served on the Intelligence and Security Committee between 2015 and 2016.[4]
After two years out of government, he returned to frontline politics when new Prime Minister Theresa May appointed him as Minister for Europe and the Americas, and effective deputy to then-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, in July 2016.[5] Sir Alan Duncan resigned as Minister of State on 22 July 2019 citing Johnson's election to the Tory leadership and, hence, the UK's premiership.[6][7] He decided not to seek re-election at the UK/2019 General Election.[8]
Alan Duncan became the first openly gay Conservative Member of Parliament, publicly coming out in 2002.[9]
Contents
Early life
Duncan was born in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, and was educated at two independent schools: Beechwood Park School in Markyate, and Merchant Taylors' School in Northwood, at both of which he was 'Head Monitor' (head boy). He had two brothers, who also attended Beechwood Park School. Their family supported the Liberal Party, and Duncan ran (and lost) as a Liberal at a school mock election in 1970; two years later he joined the Young Conservatives.
He then attended St John's College, Oxford, where he coxed the college first eight, and was elected President of the Oxford Union in 1979.[10] Whilst there, he formed a friendship with Benazir Bhutto, and ran her successful campaign to become the President of the Oxford Union. He gained a Kennedy Scholarship to study at Harvard University between 1981 and 1982.
Business Career
After graduating from Oxford, Duncan worked as a trader of oil and refined products, first with Royal Dutch Shell (1979–81)[11] and then for international commodity broker and oil trader Marc Rich from 1982 to 1988 in London and Singapore.[12]
Opposition MPs in the apartheid South African parliament in May 1984 named Marc Rich as one of apartheid's major oil suppliers, breaching voluntary international embargos and contractual obligations imposed by OPEC producers. Despite repeated and overwhelming votes for a mandatory oil embargo in the UN General Assembly and a vigorous international campaign throughout the 1980s, individual traders like Rich and companies like Shell continued to supply the apartheid regime with its lifeblood. Alan Duncan has consistently played down his involvement with US broker Marc Rich, maintaining he was too junior in the operation to be closely involved with him.[13]
Alan Duncan used the connections he had built up and became self-employed from 1988 to 1992, acting as a consultant and adviser to foreign governments on oil supplies, shipping and refining. In 1989, Duncan set up the independent Harcourt Consultants, which advises on oil and gas matters. He made over £1 million after helping fill the need to supply oil to Pakistan after supplies from Kuwait had been disrupted in the Gulf War.
Political career
Alan Duncan was an active member of the Battersea Conservative Association from 1979 until 1984, when he moved to live in Singapore, from which he returned in 1986. After Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigned in November 1990, he offered his home in Westminster as the headquarters of John Major's leadership campaign.
Duncan was involved in the 1997 leadership contest, being the right-hand man of William Hague, the eventual winner. In this capacity, he was called "the closest thing [the Conservatives] have to Peter Mandelson".[14] Duncan and Hague had both been at Oxford, both been Presidents of the Oxford Union, and had been close friends since at least the early 1980s. Duncan, openly gay since 2002, once shared a London flat with William Hague, who has felt obliged to deny public speculation about his own sexuality.
In 2010 he was a Minister of State at the Department for International Development.[15]
Libya oil cell
During the UK/NATO attack on Libya in 2011, Alan Duncan was the brain behind the so-called "Libya oil cell", which helped block fuel supplies to the Libyan government while ensuring that petrol and diesel continued to get through to the British-supported rebels in the east. The cell advised NATO to blockade the port of Zawiya to prevent tankers bringing in fuel for the Gaddafi government's war effort. Libya had lots of crude but couldn't refine it. They also helped locate other routes the smugglers were using to get fuel into Libya overland from Tunisia and Algeria.
The cell encouraged London-based oil traders to sell fuel to the rebels in Benghazi by trying to minimise the risk they would take by having to wait for payment. It also ensured that the oil traders knew who to contact within the rebel hierarchy.[16]
Focus on the Israel lobby
In an undercover investigation, Al Jazeera recorded an Israeli diplomat in London, Shai Masot, caught plotting to "take down" minister Alan Duncan for his opposition the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. The recording show Masot discussing the way to proceed in this with Maria Strizzolo, who is allegedly only a UK civil servant.[17]
In his 2019 memoirs, Duncan accused pro-Israel lobbyists of "the most disgusting interference" in British public life, the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) had been responsible for pushing the country to adopt disproportionately anti-Palestinian and pro-Israel policies. "It’s a sort of buried scandal that has to stop… they will interfere at a high level in British politics in the interests of Israel on the back of donor power in the UK."[18]
On 4 April 2024, Duncan was interviewed by LBC's Henry Riley, who posted on X:
- This is the moment Sir Alan Duncan called for Tom Tugendhat to be sacked as Security Minister.
- He says it is time to “flush out those extremists in our own politics, some of whom are at the very top of government. Theyre doing the bidding of Netanyahu, bypassing all proper processes of government, to exercise undue influence at the top of government
- In addition to Tom Tugendhat Duncan said the following CFI members should be removed from government:
- Lord Polak and Lord Pickles ("Laurel and Hardy who should be pushed out together from the House of Lords")
- Suella Braverman
- Michael Gove
- Oliver Dowden
- Priti Patel ("She should be reinvestigated because we still don't know who funded her secret trip to Israel in 2017").[19]
After the interview, a Conservative Party spokesperson said:
- "Following his comments on LBC this morning, Alan Duncan has been informed in writing that he is under investigation by the party."[20]
- But a defiant Sir Alan Duncan said the decision to investigate him over accusations he used “antisemitic tropes” could prove “dangerously harmful” to the party’s reputation.[21]
US intelligence interest
US diplomatic cables published by Julian Assange in Wikileaks revealed a particular intelligence interest in Alan Duncan, at the time Shadow Minister for Prisons. A 22 January 2010 cable was signed off by Elissa Pitterle, head of intelligence operations at the US State Department. She thanked the London embassy for its intelligence on Duncan's "friendship with ... William Hague", saying it was "particularly insightful and exceptionally well timed, as analysts are preparing finished products on the Conservative leadership for senior policymakers".
The cable called for further intelligence on "Duncan's relationship with Conservative Party leader David Cameron and William Hague", and asked: "What role would Duncan play if the Conservatives form a government? What are Duncan's political ambitions?"[22][23]
Insulting Assange
Alan Duncan calls Assange a "miserable little worm" |
In March 2018, Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan responded to MP Patrick McLoughlin's question about Julian Assange thus:
"It is of great regret that Julian Assange remains in the Ecuador embassy.
"It is of even deeper regret that even last night he was tweeting against Her Majesty's Government for their conduct in replying to the attack in Salisbury.
"It's about time that this miserable little worm walked out of the embassy, and gave himself up to British justice."[24]
Anticipating Assange's extradition
Interviewed in May 2019 about plans to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan was asked:
- "You were reportedly responsible for getting Julian Assange out of the Ecuadorian embassy. Do you have any regrets about that decision?"
Duncan replied:
"Regrets? I'm delighted! He should have been out years earlier – he was just there rotting, by his own choice. It's a pity that the previous Ecuadorian government ever gave him asylum because he was able to get in. And the new government with whom we've been working very closely for a few months have been very sensible and we worked out all the legalities of making sure that we were consistent with the Vienna convention in being invited into the embassy, and that the police were able to do what they had to do. I think frankly if even for his own health it was absolutely the right thing to do. So far from having regrets, I'm definitely delighted that we've got this person out of being holed up in two rooms in the middle of London. As to his extradition, well that's up to the courts, that's up to the lawyers. First of all, he has gone in to a prison in London because he is in breach of his bail conditions. So that UK domestic process will determine how long he remains in prison. If there's an extradition request that will be determined by lawyers and the court – not by me as a politician. So whatever the law and the process of justice delivers, that's what'll happen."[25]
Events Participated in
Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Le Cercle/2016 (London) | June 2016 | June 2016 | London Westminster UK St James’s Court Hotel | Alan Duncan reports that the group met in St James’s Court Hotel in Westminster |
Munich Security Conference/2017 | 17 February 2017 | 19 February 2017 | Germany Munich Bavaria | The 53rd Munich Security Conference |
Munich Security Conference/2019 | 15 February 2019 | 17 February 2019 | Germany Munich Bavaria | The 55th Munich Security Conference, which included "A Spreading Plague" aimed at "identifying gaps and making recommendations to improve the global system for responding to deliberate, high consequence biological events." |
Related Document
Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Document:Assange Judge is 40-year "good friend" of Minister who orchestrated his arrest | Article | 2 December 2021 | Mark Curtis Matt Kennard | Julian Assange’s fate lies in the hands of an Appeal Judge who is a close friend of Sir Alan Duncan - the former Foreign Office minister who called Assange a “miserable little worm” in Parliament |
References
- ↑ "Bahrain Interior Minister receives UK dignitaries"
- ↑ "Her Majesty's Government"
- ↑ "Rutland and Melton MP Alan Duncan receives a knighthood"
- ↑ "Rt Hon Sir Alan Duncan MP"
- ↑ "Theresa May appoints her own spy at the Foreign Office to keep a check on Boris Johnson as reshuffle is finalised"
- ↑ "Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan resigns ahead of Boris Johnson's expected premiership
- ↑ "Tory leadership race: Alan Duncan resigns as minister"
- ↑ "Sir Alan Duncan: MP standing down after 27 years in politics"
- ↑ "Gay Tory frontbencher comes out"
- ↑ "Conservatives – Alan Duncan MP"
- ↑ "Profile: Alan Duncan"
- ↑ "Shadow minister accused of supplying apartheid regime"
- ↑ "Top Tory at centre of sanctions busting claims"
- ↑ "Loyal colleagues are ready to reap the rewards"
- ↑ "Full list of new cabinet ministers and other government appointments"
- ↑ "Landale Online: How UK unit starved Gaddafi of fuel"
- ↑ "The Lobby"
- ↑ "UK: Ex-minister accuses pro-Israel lobbyists of 'disgusting interference'"
- ↑ "This is the moment Sir Alan Duncan called for Tom Tugendhat to be sacked as Security Minister"
- ↑ "Alan Duncan being investigated by Conservative Party after criticising fellow Tories for Israel support"
- ↑ A defiant Sir Alan Duncan said the decision to investigate him over accusations he used 'antisemitic tropes' could prove 'dangerously harmful' to the party’s reputation"
- ↑ "US embassy cables: US shows interest in Alan Duncan"
- ↑ "Spies drew up dossier on Alan Duncan"
- ↑ "Tory minister calls Assange a 'miserable little worm'"
- ↑ "Julian Assange Extradition: Interview with UK Minister Alan Duncan"