Britain’s strength is as a maritime power
It is said that when Boris Johnson chose Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the First Sea Lord, to be the new Head of the Armed Forces, he “went with his gut”. A state-school boy from Oldham (land of the Red Wall), Sir Tony is, like the Prime Minister, an optimist, and Mr Johnson was impressed with his nuclear knowledge when negotiating the Aukus submarine pact with Australia and the United States. Postbrexit – crucially, post-iraq and Afghanistan, too – Mr Johnson wants us to recalibrate as a naval power.
The reasoning behind this strategy was laid out in the Integrated Review, published earlier this year. At the heart of future foreign policy will be great power competition, particularly with Russia and China. Russia is on Europe’s doorstep; China has to be handled in a different way. We can, and must, work with Beijing on some questions, such as the environment – but the regime has already crushed democracy in Hong Kong and now has its eyes on Taiwan. If the West’s red lines are to be more than theoretical, we need to maintain a strong naval capability in East Asia.
It is striking that on the same day that Sir Tony had his interview for the new job, he authorised a British warship from the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier strike group to sail through the Taiwan Strait. It was the first time a British warship passed through the contested waters since 2008.
Cyber security is essential, but from joint Uk-french operations in the Sahel to Nato exercises in the Baltics, the West has been reminded that it needs to be able to project power, and Aukus must be the first of a network of local and global alliances to contain new and emerging threats.
The key is to be both agile and to leave a lower footprint; the age of nation-building is likely over. A greater emphasis upon naval capability exploits our current strengths, such as a new base in Bahrain and two aircraft carriers, but it also reflects our island history.
Britain has long flourished off the back of global trade and having the military muscle necessary to defend it.
Those who claim that the only future for us lies in some integrated European military venture on the Continent have been proven wrong. Liberated from the European Union, Britain, returning to first principles, enjoys greater independence – but is also demonstrating itself to be an indispensable international partner.