Jon Day Quote

In The Goshawk, his diary of an attempt to train a bird of prey during the run-up to the First World War, T. H. White celebrated the pigeon’s innate docility, even while he hunted them to feed to his hawk. ‘What a peace-loving but prudent race they were’, White wrote, ‘not predatory and yet not craven. Of all the birds, I thought, they must be the best citizens, the most susceptible to the principles of the League of Nations.

Jon Day

In The Goshawk, his diary of an attempt to train a bird of prey during the run-up to the First World War, T. H. White celebrated the pigeon’s innate docility, even while he hunted them to feed to his hawk. ‘What a peace-loving but prudent race they were’, White wrote, ‘not predatory and yet not craven. Of all the birds, I thought, they must be the best citizens, the most susceptible to the principles of the League of Nations.

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About Jon Day

Sir Jonathan Stephen Day (born 23 April 1954) is a retired British Civil Servant lately serving as the Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee and Head of the Joint Intelligence Organisation at the Cabinet Office.
Day initially trained as a solicitor, and joined the Civil Service in 1979. During his career, Day worked in the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Cabinet Office, was seconded to NATO, and did a year's sabbatical at Harvard University. Day retired at the end of November 2015, and was replaced by Charles Farr as Chair of the JIC.