In the middle
Sometimes I feel sorry for the boys and girls at the Foreign Office. They pride themselves on a masterful retreat from empire, keeping close to the USA. and finding a new role for the UK, as a bridge between Brussels and Washington.
Then along come a bunch of liars, bigots, chancers, racists, and fantasist who wanted to take the country back to the 1950s and succeeded. That is an awful lot of hard work undone by one vote.
But then just when you think you have an administration that gets the reality of the UK’s position and wants to “reset” its relationship with the EU, you get Sir Kier Starmer. A man so scared of his own voters that he won’t be realistic.
Last night Sir Kier told the great and the good that the Trump presidency did not mean that the UK had to choose which way to jump, he actually said “Against the backdrop of these dangerous times, the idea that we must choose between our allies, that somehow we’re with either America or Europe, is plain wrong”.
Well, up to a point PM. You are right we don’t have to decide, but we will suffer more if we don’t because sooner or later someone is going to decide for us. The idea that we can be the plucky Brits in the middle playing one side off against the other, or be mates with both sides of a massive trade war or even cozy up to Trump is for the birds.
Trump is the best argument against Brexit imaginable, he is isolationist, anti Nato, anti EU, pro Russian, anti-democratic, and is so stupid he wants a trade war.
No one in Westminster seems able to grasp just how small and irrelevant we are in the world post Brexit, mainly because they don’t want to or can’t get their heads round the scale of the decline caused by upending 60 years of sensible foreign policy.
The diplomats at the FO know, their ambassadors are telling them every day, politicians need to listen to the truth and act on the evidence.
Nations do not have permanent friends, only permanent interests, it is obvious where our interests are best served and it isn’t in Washington now, nor is it being Billy no mates in the middle of a trade war.
Realism or at least rationalism in international relations is essential, denying reality and pretending you don’t have to make a choice is neither.
From Jonty Bloom Media Ltd
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.
Having worked in Govt and in an Embassy, I’m not convinced that Ambassadors do report back how bad things are. You are rewarded for saying how influential and wonderful the U.K. is not reporting news of our decline. Perhaps informally the comments are made? I also think that there has been a hollowing out of the FCDO the calibre of people seems much poorer at the top.
I was appalled to hear Starmer say that. I don't know who is advising him, but in my opinion he needs to get real, and very quickly.