GOOD MORNING FROM LONDON
People in the UK are looking at the US in Afghanistan and thinking back to 1956 when relations between the US and the UK reached an all-time low. Then the UK, France + Israel joined together to invade Egypt in an attempt to seize back control of the Suez Canal from Gamal Abdul Nasser. The US was angry with UK’s PM Anthony Eden and cut international credit lines to the UK. Eden surrendered.
Today in Afghanistan the US+UK have both been defeated. Scuttled out of Afghanistan, the issue is where does it leave the US/UK relationship.
PM Johnson was always too close to President Trump to expect to have any traction in his relationship with President Biden. Add into the mix, Johnson’s attempts to backslide out of the Irish Border Agreement which went down badly with incoming President Biden conscious of his Irish roots and It was no surprise that Johnson’s recent calls to the White House were spurned.
If Johnson is not appreciated in Washington, he is not well regarded in Europe either – where the cumulative effect of populist bluster during the BREXIT negotiations has led to estrangement with Paris, Berlin and Brussels.
“Global Britain” has not filled the vacuum. The Royal Navy’s new aircraft carrier was dispatched to the South China Sea but, according to Philip Stephens in today’s FT, without sufficient F35 warplanes to sit on its deck.
Today Johnson is mistrusted in Europe and shunned by Washington. The UK’s standing is under attack. BREXIT is turning out to be a big mistake,
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THE BBC ATTACKS CHINA
