By going to Georgia, David Cameron has shown three things. First, he has the right values. He is quoted in today's Sunday Telegraph as saying:
I think it's important that the world's oldest democracy must stand with one of the newest when it's been illegally invaded by another country
This builds on William Hague's repeated pledges to place "human rights at the very heart of foreign policy". I am delighted that Cameron has taken such a stand.
Second, David Cameron has shown statesmanship. He looks more and more like the next Prime Minister as each day goes by. His various overseas visits - whether to the Arctic, Rwanda, Afghanistan, India, Beijing, Washington, DC or now Georgia - increase his understanding of the world stage, and demonstrate a recognition that to be a serious government-in-waiting, we need to grapple not only with our domestic challenges, but also the world's problems. Global poverty, oppression and conflict cannot be disentangled from domestic issues - world affairs affect our national security.
And third, he has shown just how shabby the current Government has become. The fact that Gordon Brown has been so focused on his internal warfare with his own Foreign Secretary that he has failed to do anything meaningful - or even say very much - about Georgia is astonishing. As Cameron becomes more statesmanlike by the day, Brown's stature - once high - is diminishing by the moment.
