The new edition of Prospect shows a soft spot for Sir Nigel Sheinwald, erstwhile foreign policy adviser to Tony Blair and now arriving in the US as our man in Washington. As Prospect’s DC gossip column notes, Sir Nigel is:
…preceded by his reputation as a bruiser. Everybody on the diplomatic circuit has heard that he snapped, “Are you in favour of suicide bombers?” at one middle east expert in a Downing Street meeting. After a term in Brussels as our man at the EU and, most recently, a stint as Blair’s foreign policy adviser, many foreign ministries have first-hand knowledge of Nigel’s ways. The Russians have been talking up his hasty departure from Moscow after a car accident in which a Russian died, and the Spanish complain that he was thuggish to them over Gibraltar. The Germans nod when his name comes up, and note it is quite something to be called arrogant by the French.
