Tony Blair’s Chicago doctrine is buried in Philadelphia

Theresa May mentioned Donald Trump only once in her speech to the Republicans gathered in Philadelphia tonight, but its centrepiece was a gift to him. In his inauguration speech, he said that the US was now out of the business of liberal interventionism. She told Republicans that the same applies to Britain. Here’s the key quote:-

It is in our interests – those of Britain and America together – to stand strong together to defend our values, our interests and the very ideas in which we believe.  This cannot mean a return to the failed policies of the past. The days of Britain and America intervening in sovereign countries in an attempt to remake the world in our own image are over.

Her comments will have been aimed at David Cameron, keen to intervene in Libya and Syria, as much as Tony Blair. She added the obligatory caveat – never say never, don’t “stand idly by when the threat is real and when it is in our own interests to intervene”.