Labour MP Patrick Duffy combined a long Commons career with the presidency of the North Atlantic Assembly, NATO's parliamentary body. In 1991 he led the first Western parliamentary delegation to visit the Kremlin, and the Queen knighted him that same year for his NATO work. He described NATO in 2014 as one of the world's most impressive international organisations and was still serving as deputy chair of the Atlantic Council of the UK in 2017, aged 97. NATO's councils and parliamentary institutions give member states formal representation. Logistics still limit that formal equality because the countries providing most alliance support can exert greater influence.
Chapter · 2:15-6:15
Patrick Duffy frames NATO as a maritime alliance
Sir Patrick Duffy's parliamentary and NATO career introduces a 1980 debate about the Royal Navy's alliance role.