Global Policy Forum

By Caroline Linton

Former leader of the Commons Robin Cook today denounced Britain's pro-US foreign policy, saying it could cause a permanent rift within Europe. Writing in this week's New Statesman, Mr Cook, who resigned in March over Britain's policy in Iraq, writes that the fundamental foreign policy dilemma for Britain "is not Iraq. It is not even Europe. It is what kind of relationship we can maintain with the US while it is under neo-conservative management".

Mr Cook's attack comes after former prime minister John Major claimed on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning that the diplomatic damage caused by the war is "repairable". In order to restore Britain's status as a European player, Mr Cook argues, Tony Blair needs to rethink his relationship with the US president, George Bush. This friendship - marked by dramatic foreign policy mistakes, especially in Iraq - has left Mr Blair without any leftwing allies in Europe.

Mr Cook compares the alliance between Mr Blair and Mr Bush to that of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. But he notes that while the Reagan-Thatcher partnership was built on shared ideology, no such similarity of view exists in the Blair-Bush alliance. Mr Blair's mistake was in underestimating how fundamental those political differences are. Aside from the dramatic errors of judgment in Iraq, Mr Cook also lists some of the Bush administration's other foreign policies, including its blatant disregard for much of Britain's foreign policy agenda.

He also cites a former colleague, who was told by a senior member of the Bush administration: "To be frank, we are glad you are no longer a foreign minister as your position was closer to the UK than the US." Mr Cook notes that the UK-US alliance has caused there to be little progress on making Britain an equal partner within Europe, with the added bonus of Britain being resented in the developing world because of the war in Iraq. While Mr Cook argues that Britain's future lies in its ability to turn its back on the Bush administration and be a strong nation in Europe, Mr Major this morning played down the rifts in the EU caused by the war on Iraq.

"I think that it is all repairable," Mr Major said. "It will require a great deal of active diplomacy to do and I am not sure it will be successfully done as speedily as many people would wish. But I think it can be done." The former prime minister said the greatest challenge for Britain is to keep the Islamic world united, something which will be determined by how the situation in Iraq is handled. He said the most important issue facing Britain was sustaining peace in the Middle East, especially in Iraq. He noted that despite rumours that the Bush administration is planning military action in Syria, the whole notion is "fanciful." "I do not think that's very likely to happen," he said.

Mr Major also stated his support for Iain Duncan Smith's leadership during the war, but declined to comment further, saying he was not "going to get sucked into internal party politics". He also speculated that there would most likely not be a referendum on the euro before the next general election, because "the prime minister will not risk it because he will lose it." He also opposed the possibility of a European president. He said: "I understand why Tony Blair wishes it because a short-term six-month presidency is an inadequate time in which to make substantial change in the right direction and often it is negated by what happens under a subsequent presidency." "But I cannot say I very much favour an elected European president." With the EU enlargement summit looming, Mr Major said he supported the extension of the union, calling the EU "a remarkable free trade area."

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