Thirteen years after defeating Napoleon, the bold Iron Duke conducted his first cabinet meeting. The experience must have jolted him as he confided to a friend afterwards: An extraordinary affair. I gave them their orders, (and damn it) they wanted to stay and discuss them. 2 4. I know the feeling after meetings of the Monetary Policy Committee here.
And, I dare say, so do many of you heroes and veterans of boardroom battles where unwary captains of industry and corporate honchos meet their Waterloos. The future 5. Tonight, I want us to look into the future and ask how we are facing up to the prospects ahead. Do we have the resilience to survive as a nation, or indeed as a civilisation?