So much for post-Brexit “Global Britain”, then. In his first major policy speech as foreign, commonwealth and development secretary, James Cleverly, in the Victorian imperial grandeur of the Foreign Office, didn’t emotion that vainglorious phrase once, and there was no sign of either the bombastic ambition of his old mentor Boris Johnson, nor of Liz Truss’ hawkishness and pompous talk of liberty.
Nor, for that matter, was there much hint of the “ethical” dimension of British foreign policy that confused New Labour’s early years in office before being buried in the sands of Iraq. Long gone, of course, is the pursuit of a “golden age” of trade with China that David Cameron invested so much political capital into, including buying President Xi Jinping a pint of bitter at the local pub near Chequers (though a warming of relations with China does look more likely now – there was no mention of Hong Kong in the Cleverly address for example).
Instead, Cleverly explains, Britain is now seeking out new friends and rekindling old alliances: “We cannot hang on to the comfort blanket of our pre-existing friends and alliances and we need to grow and we need to make sure that we are having conversations in diverse countries that are moved by different philosophies.”
