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George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen

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George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen
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{{Short description|British politician (born 1946)}}{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}







factoids
|image = Official portrait of Lord Robertson of Port Ellen 2020 crop 2.jpg|caption = Official portrait, 2020|office = 10th Secretary General of NATO|deputy = Sergio BalanzinoAlessandro Minuto-Rizzo|term_start = 14 October 1999|term_end = 17 December 2003|predecessor = Javier Solana|successor = Jaap de Hoop Scheffer|office1 = Secretary of State for Defence|primeminister1 = Tony Blair|term_start1 = 3 May 1997|term_end1 = 11 October 1999|predecessor1 = Michael Portillo|successor1 = Geoff Hoon|office2 = Shadow Secretary of State for ScotlandJohn Smith (Labour Party leader)>John SmithMargaret Beckett {{small|(Acting)}}Tony Blair|term_start2 = 21 October 1993|term_end2 = 2 May 1997Shadow Cabinet>ShadowingIan LangMichael Forsyth, Baron Forsyth of Drumlean>Michael ForsythTom Clarke (politician)>Tom ClarkeJacqui Lait {{small>(2001)}}| office3 = Member of the House of LordsLord Temporal| term_start3 = 3 February 2000Life peerage| term_end3 = Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)>Member of Parliamentfor Hamilton South (UK Parliament constituency){{small>Hamilton (1978–1997)}}|term_start4 = 31 May 1978|term_end4 = 24 August 1999Alexander Wilson (Scottish politician)>Alexander Wilson|successor4 = William Tynan|birth_name = George Islay MacNeill Robertson194612|df=y}}|birth_place = Port Ellen, Argyll, Scotland|death_date = |death_place = Sandra Wallace|1 June 1970}}|children = 3Labour Party (UK)>Labour|alma_mater = University of Dundee}}George Islay MacNeill Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|size=100%|KT|GCMG|PC|FRSA|FRSE}} (born 12 April 1946), is a British politician of the Labour Party who was the 10th Secretary General of NATO from 1999 to 2003; he succeeded Javier Solana. He was Secretary of State for Defence from 1997 to 1999, before becoming a life peer as Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, of Islay in Argyll and Bute, on 24 August 1999.{{London Gazette |issue=55596 |date=31 August 1999 |page=9355}}{{London Gazette |city=e |issue=24663 |date=27 August 1999 |page=1821}}

Early life

Born in Port Ellen, Isle of Islay, Scotland, the son of George Philip Robertson (1916–2002), a policeman, and Marion Isabella Robertson née MacNeill (1913–1996). His mother taught French and German.NEWS, The Lord of the isles,www.scotsman.com/news/the-lord-of-the-isles-1-1414335, The Scotsman, 27 August 2006, 26 August 2019, His maternal grandfather Malcolm McNeill was the police sergeant at Bowmore during World War One, and wrote about the kindness of local people in shipwreck tragedies of SS Tuscania and HMS Otranto.WEB, MacPherson, Hamish, 3 October 2021, Remembering the tragedy off Islay that claimed the lives of 470 sailors,www.thenational.scot/culture/19621224.iolaire-remembering-tragedy-off-islay-claimed-lives-470-sailors/, 2021-10-04, The National, SevenDays supplement Back in the Day section page 11, en, Robertson was educated at Dunoon Grammar School and studied economics at Queen’s College, Dundee. When he was 15 years of age, he was involved with protests against US nuclear submarines docking in Scotland.WEB,www.c-spanvideo.org/program/156378-1, The Future of NATO, 4 February 2000, C-SPAN, 3 April 2008, dead,www.c-spanvideo.org/program/156378-1," title="web.archive.org/web/20110817042641www.c-spanvideo.org/program/156378-1,">web.archive.org/web/20110817042641www.c-spanvideo.org/program/156378-1, 17 August 2011, During Robertson’s time at Queen’s College it broke away from the University of St Andrews to become the University of Dundee, of which Robertson was one of the first graduates (MA, 1968), and one of a minority of graduates that year who opted to take a Dundee, rather than a St Andrews, degree.WEB, General Election Special 2, 30 April 2010,www.archives-records-artefacts.blogspot.com/2010/04/general-election-special-2-political.html, Archives Records and Artefacts at the University of Dundee, 18 April 2016, WEB, Student protests at Dundee, 2 December 2011,archives-records-artefacts.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/student-protests-at-dundee.html, Archives Records and Artefacts at the University of Dundee, 18 April 2016, During his time at University he played a full part in student life. He wrote a column for the student newspaper Annasach, launched in 1967, and took an active role in student protests.JOURNAL, Making Contact. 12 decades of staff and student magazines, Contact, June 2011, 27,www.dundee.ac.uk/pressoffice/contact/2010/june2010.pdf, 11 September 2011, dead,www.dundee.ac.uk/pressoffice/contact/2010/june2010.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20120118045945www.dundee.ac.uk/pressoffice/contact/2010/june2010.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20120118045945www.dundee.ac.uk/pressoffice/contact/2010/june2010.pdf, 18 January 2012, dmy-all, BOOK, Baxter, Kenneth, Rolfe, Mervyn and Swinfen, David, A Dundee Celebration, 2007, University of Dundee, Dundee, 34, Robertson used his newspaper column to back the new University and encouraged his fellow students to take a University of Dundee degree (students who had started before 1967 could opt to take a degree from either the University of Dundee or the University of St Andrews). Robertson is now the Chancellor of the University of Dundee.In 1968, Robertson was one of a number of Dundee students to invade the pitch during a rugby match at St Andrews involving a team from the Orange Free State to protest against apartheid.BOOK, Baxter, Kenneth, Rolfe, Mervyn and Swinfen, David, A Dundee Celebration, 2007, University of Dundee, Dundee, 35, The same year he organised a 24-hour work-in by students in the university library in opposition to proposed cuts by the government in student grants.

Personal life

Robertson married Sandra Wallace on 1 June 1970. They have two sons and a daughter.NEWS, In sickness and in health but not in tow,www.heraldscotland.com/news/12028420.In_sickness_and_in_health_but_not_in_tow/, The Herald (Glasgow), 11 September 1996, 26 August 2019, Robertson supports Hamilton Academical football club.NEWS, Putting on a front: George Robertson may seem rather priggish, but what lies behind the inscrutable facade of the man deemed to be the most powerful Scotsman in the world?,www.heraldscotland.com/news/12196305.putting-on-a-front-george-robertson-may-seem-rather-priggish-but-what-lies-behind-the-inscrutable-facade-of-the-man-deemed-to-be-the-most-powerful-scotsman-in-the-world/, The Herald (Glasgow), 10 June 2000, 26 August 2019,

Traffic collision

Robertson survived a serious car crash on 19 January 1976Aberdeen Press and Journal – 19 May 1976Aberdeen Press and Journal – 20 January 1976 when a Navy Land Rover, which was carrying {{convert|100|lb|kg|abbr=on}} of gelignite and a box of detonators, hit his car head-on in the Drumochter Pass, one mile south of Dalwhinnie leaving him with two injured knees and a broken jaw. In May 1976 the driver of the Land Rover was found guilty of careless driving. Robertson was wearing a seat belt at the time and attributed his survival to this.NEWS,infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/0F924EA972C2897F?p=UKNB, Black sheep plays the white knight – Interview, Grove, Valerie, 11 February 1998, The Times (London), 2019-01-25,

Political career

Robertson entered the House of Commons as a Labour MP in 1978, having won the Hamilton by-election in May of that year, caused by the death of the incumbent Labour MP Alex Wilson that March. Margo MacDonald of the SNP came second. Robertson retained the constituency with an increased majority and obtained 51% of the overall vote. He was re-elected to Parliament at five subsequent general elections, was Chairman of the Labour Party in Scotland, and was appointed to the Privy Council.WEB,www.nato.int/cv/secgen/robert-e.htm, NATO Secretary General (1999–2003) The Rt. Hon. Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, 22 February 2007, NATO, 6 January 2004, Who is who at NATO?, NATO, File:Defense.gov News Photo 980603-D-9880W-177.jpg|thumb|Robertson with Secretary of Defense William CohenWilliam CohenAfter Labour won the 1997 general election, Robertson was appointed Secretary of State for Defence. He initiated the Strategic Defence Review,REPORT,www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/65F3D7AC-4340-4119-93A2-20825848E50E/0/sdr1998_complete.pdf, Strategic Defence Review, Ministry of Defence, July 1998,webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121018172816/http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/65F3D7AC-4340-4119-93A2-20825848E50E/0/sdr1998_complete.pdf, 18 October 2012, 3 March 2019, live, which was completed in 1998, presenting a coherent political and strategic narrative themed as ‘a force for good’. The review created the Joint Rapid Reaction Force and inaugurated the ambitious project to build two new large aircraft carriers for force projection, the Queen Elizabeth-class, and its new warplanes, symbolising the new government’s commitment to defence. However the new Labour government had come to power promising to follow the previous Conservative government’s spending plans for its first two years, and this required a defence budget cut of £2 billion. Though the defence budget was subsequently expanded, it was not sufficient for the increased ambitions of the review. Tom Bower, in his book on that government, argued that “Robertson had created an unaffordable dream in 1998.“BOOK,books.google.com/books?id=ZxhbDwAAQBAJ, White Flag?: An Examination of the UK’s Defence Capability, Michael Ashcroft, Isabel Oakeshott, Biteback Publishing, 2018, 9781785904196, BOOK, 407–409,books.google.com/books?id=JR5xCwAAQBAJ, Broken Vows : Tony Blair : the Tragedy of Power, Bower, Tom, Tom Bower, Faber & Faber, 2016, 9780571314201, File:Defense.gov News Photo 010308-D-2987S-080.jpg|thumb|Robertson with Secretary of Defense Donald RumsfeldDonald RumsfeldIn 1999, Robertson was appointed Secretary General of NATO after the German defence minister Rudolf Scharping declined to the position, and doubts were raised about the suitability of the British politician and former Royal Marine Paddy Ashdown (at that time the outgoing leader of the Liberal Democrats) due to his never having held a position in government.NEWS,www.nytimes.com/1999/07/15/news/15iht-allies.2.t_1.html, Paddy Ashdown of Britain Is Seen by Some As Leading Candidate for Secretary-General : Hunt for NATO Chief Moves Into New Phase, 18 April 2014, Fitchett, Joseph, 15 July 1999, The New York Times, NEWS,amarillo.com/stories/1999/07/16/usn_LA0694.001.shtml, Secretary-general sought by NATO, 18 April 2014, Ulbrich, Jeffrey, 16 July 1999, Associated Press, Amarillo Globe-News,amarillo.com/stories/1999/07/16/usn_LA0694.001.shtml," title="web.archive.org/web/20140419012713amarillo.com/stories/1999/07/16/usn_LA0694.001.shtml,">web.archive.org/web/20140419012713amarillo.com/stories/1999/07/16/usn_LA0694.001.shtml, 19 April 2014, dead, dmy-all, NEWS,www.nytimes.com/1999/07/31/world/britain-nominates-its-defense-secretary-to-be-head-of-nato.html, Britain Nominates Its Defense Secretary to Be Head of NATO, 18 April 2014, Whitney, Craig R., 31 July 1999, The New York Times, File:Vladimir Putin 28 May 2002-17.jpg|thumb|Robertson, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Russia-NATO Summit at Pratica di Mare Air Base in Italy on 28 May 2002]]File:President George W. Bush congratulates NATO Secretary General Lord George Robertson.jpg|thumb|Robertson with US President George W. Bush George W. BushRobertson was the Secretary General of NATO at the time of the United States invasion of Afghanistan. In October 2001, NATO invoked Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty for the first time in its history.NEWS, NATO is still living with the consequences of a historic decision it made hours after 9/11,www.businessinsider.com/nato-still-living-with-consequences-article-5-invocation-after-911-2021-9, Business Insider, 24 September 2021, In December 2002, before the US-led invasion of Iraq, Robertson declared that NATO had a “moral obligation” to support the United States if it attacked Iraq.NEWS, Robertson says Nato ‘morally obliged’ to back war,www.theguardian.com/world/2002/dec/26/iraq, The Guardian, 26 December 2002, In September 2022, during the 7th month of the Ukraine War, interviewed by Channel 4 about his nine meetings with Vladimir Putin, Robertson said, “At the first meeting (in Moscow, Oct 2001) Vladimir Putin clearly said, ‘I WANT RUSSIA TO BE PART OF WESTERN EUROPE...at the 2nd meeting (in Brussels) he said..’WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO INVITE RUSSIA TO JOIN NATO?’...I started to sort of reach out and engage them in so many activities that they basically couldn’t fight with us.. but after I left NATO (in Dec 2003), the American administration, the Bush administration (during their own illegal war on Iraq opposed by Putin), lost any interest basically in doing business with Russia, they saw it as a threat..they didn’t really want to make it part of the overall partnership. I think we missed an opportunity at that time because I think it’s what he (Putin) wanted, and we could have grabbed hold of him!” WEB,www.channel4.com/news/did-nato-get-putin-and-ukraine-wrong, Did Nato get Putin and Ukraine wrong?, 23 September 2022, WEB,www.nato.int/multi/photos/2001/m011003a.htm, NATO Media Library: Meeting Robertson & Putin - 3 October 2001, NEWS,www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/03/18/russias-putin-calls-iraq-war-a-mistake/7fff0ba1-bfda-4970-a1a9-f7c7afd6aaa2/, Russia’s Putin Calls Iraq War A ‘Mistake’, 2003-03-18, Sharon LaFraniere, The Washington Post, Washington, D.C., 0190-8286, 1330888409,

Quote on devolution

In 1995, Robertson, while he was Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland said, “Devolution will kill Nationalism stone dead”.NEWS,news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=757&id=700732007,news.scotsman.com/holyroodelections/How-Bulldog-Brown-could-call.3283046.jp," title="web.archive.org/web/20080202145236news.scotsman.com/holyroodelections/How-Bulldog-Brown-could-call.3283046.jp,">web.archive.org/web/20080202145236news.scotsman.com/holyroodelections/How-Bulldog-Brown-could-call.3283046.jp, 2 February 2008, How Bulldog Brown could call Braveheart Salmond’s bluff, 6 May 2007, Warner, Gerald, 6 May 2007, Scotland on Sunday, Edinburgh, This quote was designed to assuage hopes that devolution would provide a greater platform for the Scottish National Party (SNP). Robertson’s quote is frequently recalled, usually in a mocking fashion, since the SNP won Scottish Parliament elections in 2007,NEWS,www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/old-scotland-took-the-high-road-new-scotland-is-upwardly-mobile-825850.html, Old Scotland took the high road. New Scotland is upwardly mobile, 17 September 2008, Devine, Tom, 11 May 2008, The Independent, London, 2011,NEWS,www.theguardian.com/politics/wintour-and-watt/2011/may/06/snp-alexsalmond, The Guardian, London, Nicholas, Watt, Tony Blair’s Scottish nightmare comes true as Alex Salmond trounces Labour, 6 May 2011, 4 August 2011, NEWS, The 2011 result has blown out of the water the claim once made by Labour veteran Lord Robertson that devolution would “kill nationalism stone dead” – ironically, Labour, the party which set up devolution – has never managed to gain the overall majority achieved by the SNP.,www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/uk-scotland-13326310, Q&A: Scottish independence referendum, 29 May 2011, 4 August 2011, BBC News, 2016 and 2021.

Dunblane libel action

Robertson’s three children are former pupils of the school in Dunblane where gunman Thomas Hamilton murdered 16 children and their teacher in 1996. After the massacre, Robertson, a long-time resident of the town, acted as a spokesman for the victims’ families. He was also a key figure in the subsequent campaign that led to the ban on handguns in Great Britain.NEWS,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/411263.stm, Robertson driven by ‘a safer world’, BBC News, 4 August 1999, 1 April 2016, In 2003, the Sunday Herald newspaper ran an article entitled “Should the Dunblane dossier be kept secret?”, a reference to documents relating to the Cullen Inquiry into the massacre which are to remain classified for 100 years. In a discussion board on the newspaper’s website, anonymous contributors claimed that Robertson had signed a recommendation for a gun licence for Thomas Hamilton in his capacity as Hamilton’s MP. However, Robertson had never been the gunman’s MP, and the claims were unfounded. Robertson sued the Sunday Herald and the paper settled by paying him a five-figure sum plus costs. A subsequent action by Robertson, related to the terms of the newspaper’s apology, was unsuccessful. The first case became an important test case as to whether publishers can be held responsible for comments posted on their websites.WEB,www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/dunblane.html, Robertson sues over Dunblane killer allegations, 22 February 2007, McDougall, Dan, October 2005, The Dunbane Shootings and Gun Law, Martin Frost, dead,www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/dunblane.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20070314020855www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/dunblane.html,">web.archive.org/web/20070314020855www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/dunblane.html, 14 March 2007, dmy-all, HTTP://NEWS.BBC.CO.UK/1/HI/TECHNOLOGY/3644610.STM > TITLE = BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY ON THE NET LAST = THOMPSON DATE = 10 SEPTEMBER 2004, BBC News,

Independence referendum interventions

Robertson opposed Scottish independence in the 2014 referendum. In an article in The Washington Post, he wrote: “The residual United Kingdom would still be a major player in the world, but upon losing a third of its land mass, 5 million of its population and a huge amount of credibility, its global standing would inevitably diminish.“NEWS, Robertson, George,www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/scotland-secession-could-lead-to-re-balkanization-of-europe/2014/01/05/df076e94-578e-11e3-8304-caf30787c0a9_story.html, Scotland secession could lead to re-Balkanization of Europe, The Washington Post, 5 January 2014, 1 April 2016, He said in a speech to the Brookings Institution on 8 April 2014: “The loudest cheers for the break-up of Britain would be from our adversaries and from our enemies. For the second military power in the west to shatter this year would be cataclysmic in geo-political terms.“NEWS,www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-26933998, Scottish independence: Lord Robertson says Yes vote ‘would be cataclysmic’, BBC News, 8 April 2014, 1 April 2016, Robertson also likened the efforts of Unionists to keep Scotland tied to the UK with those of Abraham Lincoln’s fight against slavery when he stated, “they might look more relevantly at the Civil War where hundreds of thousands of Americans perished in a war to keep the new Union together. To Lincoln and his compatriots the Union was so precious, so important, and its integrity so valuable that rivers of blood would be spilt to keep it together.“WEB, Fred Dews,www.brookings.edu/blogs/brookings-now/posts/2014/04/lord-george-robertson-forces-of-darkness-love-scottish-split-from-united-kingdom, Lord George Robertson: Forces of Darkness Would Love Scottish Split from United Kingdom, Brookings Institution, Brookings.edu, 7 April 2014, 1 April 2016,

After NATO

Robertson has received numerous honours (including a total of 12 Honorary doctorates from various universities).In addition, he is a Senior Counsellor at The Cohen Group, a consulting firm in Washington D.C. that provides advice and assistance in marketing and regulatory affairs.In August 2021, he criticised the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan, saying that “We never really took Afghanistan and the conflict there with the seriousness that it demanded.“NEWS, Lord Robertson says withdrawal ‘happened far too quickly’ as Afghanistan collapses to Taliban,www.heraldscotland.com/politics/19515706.lord-robertson-says-withdrawal-happened-far-quickly-afghanistan-collapses-taliban/, The Herald, 16 August 2021,

Career

Other former or present posts

Honours and awards

Orders


Foreign Honours


Organisation


Appointments
  • {{Flagicon|UK}} 24 August 1999 life peer as Baron Robertson of Port Ellen

Appointments

Personal


Fellowships


Academic

Honorary military appointments

Appointments
  • {{Flagicon|UK|army}} Honorary Regimental Colonel of the London Scottish (Volunteers)








factoids
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References

{{Reflist|30em}}

External links

{{commons category}} }}{{NATOSecGens}}{{Secretary of State for Defence}}{{Members of the Order of the Thistle}}{{Authority control}}

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