William Hague's interview today with The Daily Telegraph, where he calls on the United States to restore its "moral authority" in the world, will reignite tensions between the Conservative Party and the Bush Administration after a period of rapprochement following David Cameron's successful visit to Washington last November.
Controversially, Hague asserts of America:
"This is a country we ought to be able to look up to and acknowledge as our single most important relationship in the world and I think that, or I really hope the new president it going to take that opportunity to present that to the world again."
This is strong stuff from the Shadow Foreign Secretary, an assertion that he doesn't currently acknowledge the U.S.-UK alliance as "our single most important relationship". They are astonishing comments at a time when American and British troops are fighting alongside each other in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hague should clarify his remarks, which are clearly at odds with the traditional position of his party.
