We can’t cling on to ‘comfort blanket’ of old alliances, says Cleverly

BRITAIN must let go of the “comfort blanket” of old alliances to counter the threat posed by China and Russia, James Cleverly said yesterday in his first big speech as Foreign Secretary.

The UK’S chief diplomat said Britain had to convince emerging economies to become custodians of the international rule-based order rather than follow the example of Moscow and Beijing.

Mr Cleverly praised the alliances with countries such as the US, France, Germany and Australia as “our greatest source of strength and the foundation stone of British democracy and diplomacy”. But he warned that Europe and

North America would not be enough to safeguard peace, human rights and Western values in the future.

Nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America “will decide whether the international order will endure”, he added.

Speaking at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, he said: “Of course we continue to work most closely with those... traditional friends and allies that have stood shoulder to shoulder with us for many, many decades. But the point I’m also making is that we can’t just hang on to the comfort blanket perhaps of our pre-existing friendships and alliances.

“We need to make sure that we’re having conversations with those countries that are also being wooed by other philosophies,” he said. “We need... to be salespeople and sell the benefits... about subscription to international law, about using peaceful mechanisms for dispute resolution, about moving in a direction which embraces human rights and diversity, and those things which are the foundation stones of our political philosophy.” Mr Cleverly warned against lecturing emerging economies and said that a long-term “persuasive” approach over decades was best to bring about change.

He pinpointed India as an example of “exactly the kind of country where it is to our mutual benefit and global benefit to work closely together”.