George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen


George Islay MacNeill Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen , is a British politician of the Labour Party who served as the 10th Secretary General of NATO from 1999 to 2004; he succeeded Javier Solana. He served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1997 to 1999, before becoming a life peer being created Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, of Islay in Argyll and Bute on 24 August 1999.

Early life

Born in Port Ellen, Isle of Islay, Scotland, the son of George P. Robertson, a policeman. His mother taught French and German, and he was educated at Dunoon Grammar School and studied economics at the Queen's College, Dundee. When he was 15 years of age, he was involved with protests against US nuclear submarines docking in Scotland.
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, and one of a minority of graduates that year who opted to take a Dundee, rather than a St Andrews, degree. 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. Robertson used his newspaper column to back the new University and encouraged his fellow students to take a University of Dundee degree.
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. 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.

Marriage

Robertson married Sandra Wallace on 1 June 1970. They have two sons and a daughter.

Accident

Robertson survived a serious crash in January 1977 of his car with a Navy Land Rover, which was carrying of gelignite and a box of detonators, and hit his car head-on in the Drumochter Pass, leaving him with two wrecked knees and a broken jaw. Robertson was wearing a seat belt at the time and attributes his survival to this factor.

Political career

Robertson first entered the House of Commons as a Labour MP in 1978, after having won the Hamilton by-election in May of that year, caused by the death of the incumbent Labour MP Alex Wilson in March of that year. He was challenged for the seat by the SNP candidate, Margo MacDonald, who came second. Robertson retained the constituency with an increased majority and obtained 51% of the overall vote. He was re-elected to Parliament at the five subsequent general elections, was Chairman of the Labour Party in Scotland, and was appointed to the Privy Council.
After Labour won the 1997 general election, Robertson was appointed Secretary of State for Defence. He initiated the Strategic Defence Review, 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 Sawyer in his book on that government characterised the situation as "Robertson had created an unaffordable dream in 1998."
In 1999, Robertson was appointed as Secretary General of NATO after the German defence minister Rudolf Scharping declined to be nominated for the position, and doubts were raised about the suitability of British politician and former Royal Marine Paddy Ashdown due to his never having held a position in government.

Quote on devolution

In 1995, Robertson, while he was Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland said, "Devolution will kill Nationalism stone dead". This quote was designed to assuage hopes that devolution would provide a greater platform for the Scottish National Party. Robertson's quote is frequently recalled, usually in a mocking fashion, since the SNP won Scottish Parliament elections in 2007, 2011 and 2016.

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.
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.

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."
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." 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."

After NATO

Robertson has received numerous honours.
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.

Football

Robertson is a supporter of Hamilton Academicals.

Career

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;Foreign Honours
;Organisation
;Appointments
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;Fellowships
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