Britain and America

Simon Burns MP: Why Conservatives should welcome President Hillary Rodham Clinton

Simon Burns, Conservative MP for Chelmsford, says that Clinton is a "new Tory" and Conservatives should feel able to support her in the interests of the special relationship.

The importance of the Special Relationship with America has always rightly been the cornerstone of British foreign policy – with the short exception of the Heath premiership - which explains why Tony Blair found it so easy in January 2001 to move so swiftly from supporting Bill Clinton to being such best friends with the most rightwing Republican president since Herbert Hoover.

This fact presents a serious challenge to too many Conservatives in Britain, who ostrich-like, are not prepared to confront. The problem is their inexplicable attachment to a party that has produced the viciousness of Tom Delay, the hypocrisy of Mark Foley and David Vitter and the economic policies of George W Bush which have turned the budget surplus of Bill Clinton into a massive deficit due to tax cuts for the rich and greatly increased public spending. To add insult to injury, they find the nauseating mantra of the neo-cons attractive.

On the 20th January 2009 this will all change because due to the ineptitude of George W Bush in both his management of the American economy and the war in Iraq, the smart money is on a Democrat entering the White House. Barring an implosion of massive proportions that Democrat will be Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

Will the relationship be less special after Blair?

The Thatcher Center's Dr Nile Gardiner has written a typically erudite piece for National Review on the need to preserve the transatlantic relationship post-Blair. His main points are below:

The U.S. government must prioritise the survival of the relationship:

"There are major challenges on the horizon, including the stunning rise of anti-Americanism in Britain, growing attempts by the al Qaeda network to break the alliance, as well as the continuing loss of British sovereignty in the European Union. The relationship cannot be taken for granted, and protecting and defending it should be a top-level priority for the U.S. government."

On polls showing worrying levels of anti-American attitudes and misconceptions amongst British people:

"They reflect a commonly held, though hugely unfair view among the British public that Britain under Tony Blair has become America’s “poodle,” receiving nothing in return. Blair’s unyielding support for President Bush perversely weakened the prospect of future British leaders standing shoulder to shoulder with the United States. His successor, Gordon Brown, will be heavily dependent upon the traditional socialist Left of the ruling Labor party for support, and will be under pressure not to emulate the close Bush-Blair partnership."

Brown will have to pander to his party:

"A frequent visitor to the United States, Brown’s instincts are far from anti-American, but those of his party certainly are. He will undoubtedly seek to create some distance between Washington and London, and will prioritize ‘soft’ issues, such as international development, foreign aid, and global warming. The high-profile, flashy public press conferences that were a regular feature of the Washington political scene when Blair was prime minister, are likely to replaced by low key, but tougher behind the scenes negotiations, with Brown cutting a far less dashing figure on the world stage."

Al Qaeda will turn the screw on the relationship:

"More attacks on U.K. interests in the Middle East and Africa, as well as bombing campaigns on British soil are likely. Though it failed with the July 7, 2005 London bombings, partly due to Blair’s strong response, al Qaeda will attempt to recreate the “Madrid effect” in Britain. Al Qaeda will also seek to foster political tensions between London and Washington by cultivating British-based Islamic terror cells to act against transatlantic targets."

The virtues of poodledom

Andrew Sullivan wrote an interesting piece for The Sunday Times this weekend about the advantages to Blair, and Britain, of being "a poodle" to Bush:

Poodles have a good life - "Poodle owners are often passionate about their pets, catering to their every whim, manipulated by their guile and tolerating their sometimes snippy relationships with other dogs. In many cases – and this is not restricted to poodles, of course – it’s hard to tell, after a while, who controls whom. The master routinely finds his days wrapped around catering for the poodle: walking it, grooming it, pandering to it. If the tail often wags the dog, the dog can also wag the human."

British PMs accept that power comes with poodledom - "Most postwar British prime ministers have intuitively understood this, however strongly their publics have sometimes balked.  The global power of a British premier is nowhere near that of an American president, but the Brits’ leverage over such power is arguably greater than any other country’s – precisely because of their treasured, special, pampered poodle status."

It doesn't have to be an unquestioning relationship - "Recall Thatcher’s horrified response to what she saw as a breach of international law in the seizure of Grenada, a member of the Commonwealth, or her opposition to Reagan’s attack on nuclear deterrence theory at Reykjavik – and compare it with Tony Blair’s take on international law with respect to Iraq. Britain’s leaders – from Thatcher to Blair – do not seem to be moving away from the American orbit, but more firmly into it."

Making Blair an envoy to the Middle East suits everyone - "But what makes this perfect for Blair is the combination of almost certain failure, the patina of altruism and a sense of global self-importance... And that’s why, for all the pitfalls of such an appointment, it’s hard to see why it would be bad for Britain, or bad for Gordon Brown. It gets Blair out of the way and makes Britain seem more important on the world stage. Poodling is a much more powerful tool in global power politics than preening like the French or pouting like the Russians."

Sullivan's definition of poodledom has its appeal. The common jibe that Blair is a poodle for signing up for Iraq out of slavish obedience to Bush is nonsense - he was a liberal interventionist when Bush was still an isolationist.

The Queen: "Ours is a partnership always to be reckoned with in the defense of freedom and the spread of prosperity"

Last night at the White House President Bush gave a dinner in honour of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Both the President and the Queen gave short and thoughtful speeches (republished in full below).  They both spoke about the common interests of our two great countries.

BritainAndAmerica's understanding of those shared interests is here.