Hague: UK must turn away from US
Hague has advocated a watering-down of the 'special relationship'
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Wednesday, 31, Jan 2007 08:23
William Hague has urged the government to do more to improve relations with countries in the Asia-Pacific region and not focus so heavily on the US.
In a keynote speech on foreign policy, the Conservative shadow foreign secretary will call on the government to "recover the art of managing the [US-UK] relationship well".
Mr Hague will refer to Britain under Tony Blair's government as the "junior partner" in the relationship with Washington and questioned the influence London has on its neighbour.
He will suggest that the fact that it "has taken so long to secure American commitment" over technology sharing for the development of the Joint-Strike Fighter plane, coupled with Britain's apparent lack of influence on the US strategy in Iraq, bears such a position out.
"The effect of ten years of the Blair government is that Britain has never seemed so uncritically aligned with the United States yet seldom found it so difficult to get its way," he is expected to tell members of the Chatham House thinktank later today.
He will also argue that Britain's over-reliance on strengthening the bond with the US and its European neighbours have had the effect of marginalising other states which may prove to be more influential in the future.
"It can be argued that Britain has been slow, given its concentration on affairs in Washington and Brussels to adapt to the rapid changes taking place in newly industrialised countries," he will add.
The former Tory leader points particularly to the economic growth of India and China and accuses the Labour government of paying too little attention to their increasing role in world affairs.
While Mr Hague and senior Conservative figures David Cameron, George Osborne, Liam Fox have made trips to India, China and Japan, the government has been slow to improve trade relations with such countries, according to the shadow foreign secretary.
The UK must also turn its attentions to improving its role in the Middle East, Mr Hague will continue, and focus on working together with the "many friendly nations" in the area in order to win the fight against international terrorism.
"The potential dangers that lie ahead call for the maximum understanding of Middle Eastern societies as well as the firm anchoring of the friendships between countries of the Middle East and of the wider west," Mr Hague will conclude.
"While we are certainly engaged in a struggle against international terrorism, we are most certainly not engaged in a clash of civilisations. I earnestly hope that the government will call for, announce and initiate this kind of national effort while they are still in office, and will not be put off it by the fact that it is the opposition that have proposed it."