He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) at the age of 27 for special duties in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s, at the height of the terrorist campaign.

While seeking a parliamentary seat he became a senior advisor in the European Commission in the field of foreign and security policy issues.

Following his election to the European Parliament, he became the Conservatives' spokesman for Foreign, Defence and Security policy.

He has led the opposition to EU defence integration and advanced the need for revitalisation of the NATO Alliance.

[1] His commitment to counter-terrorism has informed some of his involvement in countries such as Sri Lanka, India, Israel and the Gulf states.

He was its Vice Chairman for most of the time since its foundation in 2009, growing to become the third largest of eight groups in the Parliament, with members from 18 countries.

Van Orden has said he is a eurosceptic[citation needed] seeking reform of the EU while trying to avoid a total break.

[citation needed] He opted to vote to remain for pragmatic reasons, in particular to avoid the UK suffering economic disruption and loss of influence, giving control of the continent to Berlin and Paris.