Britannia no longer ‘rules the waves’, according to top diplomat. How will Tory voters react?
Sir Jeremy Greenstock was Britain’s ambassador to the UN from 1998 to 2003 [Image: Kathy Willens/AP].
The way Cameron’s Conservatives – and his Coalition before them – have diminished the UK’s standing in the world should be expected to upset Tory supporters more than their opponents; Tories like to enjoy the fantasy that Britannia still “rules the waves” and remains a major player in world affairs.
That bubble is being pricked. How will they react?
One of Britain’s most eminent former diplomats has described the country as a fading power, saying that cuts to the Foreign Office have undermined its standing on the world stage.
As the UN security council celebrates its 70th birthday on Sunday, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, a former British ambassador to the United Nations, said this and the previous government had shown a worrying lack of concern for foreign affairs, which had hurt Britain’s standing abroad.
“It has always been in the traditions of the UK to be part of the search for global solutions. I don’t get the same feeling from the last government or this government. Immediate domestic concerns are coming first and foremost.
“We are not so much a power any more, our relative power has faded, put us into the shade. The Foreign Office is constantly being cut, our military being cut,” he said. “The number of armed forces has gone down, our contribution to peacekeeping is negligible, we haven’t succeeded in our interventions in Iraq, in Afghanistan.”
Source: Cuts have left Britain a fading power, says former top diplomat | Politics | The Guardian
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“Tories like to enjoy the fantasy that Britannia still “rules the waves” and remains a major player in world affairs.”
The Tories aren’t the only ones. Labour Right wing elitists and Blairites still haven’t accepted that Britain is no longer the Imperialist Giant it once was, the question doesn’t need to be asked of them. The vote on bombing Syria shows the mentality of the Labour Party “representatives”. Other countries are still laughing at our feebleness and the joke about how much difference our air force efforts might make. The Battlefield reports from Syria and Iraq, which are numerous in many languages, usually portray Britain as also aiding in the effort. We recently took part in a bombing event against DAESH in Mosel, Iraq, the previous outing was a derelict oil field in Deir Ezzor SE Syria which had already been demolished by Russian SU’s. The first night we used Tornados, the second bombing was two nights later with Typhoons. German and other European media were disparaging for the most part and Arab/US media were eye rolling and cracking jokes.
Boys and their very expensive toys versus elderly people in England dying of the cold – no contest. Right wing Labour are just as responsible for the plight of the elderly as Tories.
There seems to be an article in the Independent this very day, corroborating your opinion.
The rate at which Tories are destroying the UK it won’t be long until we are on par with North Korea.
They have inveigled into every part of the British way of life and systematically torn it apart.
Well! that is indeed RICH, the FO have strutted their strut for many years and actually done sweet FA, other than a wee bit of Blackmail, in case you do not know MI5/6 COMES UNDER THEIR REMIT