‘I imagine you’ve come well prepared.’
‘In what sense?’
‘You were asked to revise some specialist subjects.’
‘Yes.’
His manner is almost dismissive. He is fiddling with a fountain pen on his desk. Too many thoughts in his head at any one time.
‘And what have you read up on?’
I am starting to feel awkward.
‘The Irish peace process…’
He interrupts before I have a chance to finish.
‘Ah! And what were your conclusions?’
‘About what?’
‘About the Irish peace process,’ he says impatiently. The speed of his voice has quickened considerably.
‘Which aspect of it?’
He plucks a word out of the air.
‘Unionism.’
‘I think there’s a danger that John Major’s government will jeopardize the situation in Ulster by pandering to the Unionist vote in the House of Commons.’
‘You do?’
‘Yes.’
‘And what would you do instead? I don’t see that the prime minister has any alternative. He requires legislation to be passed, motions of no confidence to be quashed. What would you do in his place?’
This quick, abrasive style is what I had expected from Lucas and Liddiard. More of a contest, an absence of civility.
‘It’s a question of priorities.’
‘What do you mean?’
He is coming at me quickly, rapid jabs under pressure, allowing me no time to design my answers.
‘I mean does he value the lives of innocent civilians more than he values the safety of his own job?’
‘That’s a very cynical way of looking at a very complex situation. The prime minister has a responsibility to his party, to his MPs. Why should he allow terrorists to dictate how he does his job?’
‘I don’t accept the premise behind your question. He’s not allowing terrorists to do that. Sinn Fein/IRA have made it clear that they are prepared to come to the negotiating table and yet Major is going to make decommissioning an explicit requirement of that, something he knows will never happen. He’s not interested in peace. He’s simply out to save his own skin.’
‘You don’t think the IRA should hand over its weapons?’
‘Of course I do. In an ideal world. But they never will.’
‘So you would just give in to that? You would be prepared to negotiate with armed terrorist organizations?’
‘If there was a guarantee that those arms would not be used during that negotiating process, yes.’
‘And if they were?’
‘At least then the fault would lie with Sinn Fein. At least then the peace process would have been given a chance.’
Rouse leans back. The skin of his stomach is visible as pink through the thin cotton of his shirt. Here sits a man whose job it is to persuade Americans to betray their country.
‘I take your point.’
This is something of a breakthrough. There is a first smile.
‘What else, then?’
‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand.’
‘What else have you prepared?’
‘Oh.’ I had not known what he meant. ‘I’ve done some research on the Brent Spar oil platform and some work on the Middle East.’
Rouse’s face remains expressionless. I feel a droplet of sweat fall inside my shirt, tracing its way down to my waist. It appears that neither of these subjects interests him. He picks up a clipboard from the desk, turning over three pages until his eyes settle on what he is looking for. All these guys have clipboards.
‘Do you believe what you said about America?’
‘When?’
He looks at his notes, reading off the shorthand, quoting me, “‘The Americans have a very parochial view of Europe. They see us as a small country.’”
He looks up, eyebrows raised. Again it is not clear whether this is something Rouse agrees with, or whether his experience in Washington has proved otherwise. Almost certainly, he will listen to what I have to say and then take up a deliberately contrary position.
‘I believe that there is an insularity to the American mind. They are an inward-looking people.’
‘Based on what evidence?’
His manner has already become more curt.
‘Based on the fact that when you go there, they think that Margaret Thatcher is the queen, that Scotland is just this county in a bigger place called England. That kind of ignorance is unsettling when you consider that American capitalism is currently the dominant global culture. To anyone living in Texas, global news is what happens in Alabama. The average American couldn’t care less about the European Union.’
‘Surely you can appreciate that in our line of work we don’t deal with “the average American”?’
I feel pinned by this.
‘I can see that. Yes.’
Rouse looks dissatisfied that I have capitulated so early. I press on.
‘But my point is still valid. Now that America is the sole superpower, there’s a kind of arrogance, a tunnel vision, creeping into their foreign policy. They don’t make allowances for the character and outlook of individual states. Unless countries fall into line with the American way of thinking, they risk making an enemy of the most economically powerful nation on earth. This is the position that Britain finds itself in all the time.’
‘In what respect?’
‘In order to keep the special relationship alive, successive governments have had to ignore their better judgment and do some pretty unsavory things when called upon to do so by the United States. They would defend that by saying it’s in the nature of politics.’
‘You don’t think the special relationship is worth preserving?’
‘I didn’t say that. I think it’s worth preserving at any cost. Maintaining close ties with America will make the UK a pivotal force within the European Union.’
Rouse nods. He knows this is true.
‘But you remain cynical about the government in Washington?’
Now I take a risk.
‘Well, with respect, so do you.’
That may have been a mistake. Rouse appears to withdraw slightly from the improving familiarity of our conversation, stopping to write something in longhand on the clipboard.
‘I’m not sure I follow you,’ he says, bringing the pen to his mouth.
‘You’re a serving SIS officer in Washington. It’s your job to be cynical.’
He goes cold on me.
‘I’m