Lord Patten chats with Fender Jackson in his London home on Wednesday 18th June 2025.

Lord Patten has held several prominent roles, including Governor of Hong Kong, European Commissioner for External Relations, Chairman of the BBC Trust, and Chancellor of the University of Oxford, but he tells Fender that overseeing the reform of the N. Ireland police service remains his proudest political achievement.

Conversation includes: introductions; previous roles; early life; synopsis of Patten’s life; identity politics; Boyle, Roscommon; Phil Richardson Band; Heavitree Brewery; Mo Mowlam offering the policing reform job; importance of character; Dr. Paisley impersonations; recent unrest in Ballymena, Antrim; Trump and Putin; Peter Mandelson; the near impossible task of Police Reform in N. Ireland post Good Friday Agreement (GFA); legislating the Patten Report; Unionist objections; Gerry Adams; the IRA list; being a N. Ireland Junior Minister for Margaret Thatcher; London bomb attacks; Airey Neave; Jim Pryor; police bodyguards; Peter Smith QC; public meetings; Rosemary Nelson; Israel and Palestine; Maurice Hayes; early prisoner releases as part of GFA; kneecappings; Norman Tebbit; Brighton bomb; Tony Blair, John Major and Bertie Ahern; regrets of not keeping a diary during his time as being European Commissioner; why he is so proud of the report; other countries using the report; “Minister of Treachery”; social media; strong leadership; MAGA; “soft power”; Adlai Stevenson; Brexit and the Conservative Party; ‘things have to change in order to remain the same’; Abraham Lincoln; being an octogenarian; the Troubles as a war; how Britain cack-handedly handled Ireland in the past; heroes; kindness; Bobby MacDonnagh and more.

Relevant Links

https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/issues/police/patten/patten99.pdf

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