Peter Hoskin

Is Britain still relevant on the world stage?

Britain’s place in the world is under increasing scrutiny.  There’s the continuing debate over the Lisbon Treaty; mutterings that the “special relationship” may break down; and questions about the viability of Brownite free trade.  And now – in a comment piece for the Independent – Mary Dejevsky notes the lack of major British players on the diplomatic stage:

“It is hard to date the beginning, or the end, of our retreat, but the return of Mark Malloch Brown, then Deputy Secretary General, from the United Nations to join Gordon Brown’s “government of all the talents” might be seen as a moment when we pulled up one of the last drawbridges linking us to the outside world. Similarly, the retirement of Sir John, now Lord, Kerr, after serving as Secretary General of the Convention drafting the European Constitutional Treaty.

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