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| British forces on their way to Kabul to assist with the evacuation Author Ministry of Defence Licence OGL v 3 Source Wikimedia Commons |
August was the month the government might have expected some positives from brexit. An aircraft carrier strike group steamed through the South China Sea for the first time since 1968 when Denis Healey withdrew British forces from their bases east of Suez. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng published plans for the UK to become a science and technology superpower in 9 years time (see UK Innovation Strategy 12 Aug 2021 NIPC Inventors Club). Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden promised "a world-leading data regime" by "forging new global partnerships and designing our own common sense data laws" (see Dowden's Data Protection Plans 27 Aug 2021 NIPC Data Protection).
None of those announcements was noticed because attention has focused on the rapid collapse of a régime in defence of which 454 British service personnel lost their lives. What will be remembered long after the fleet has returned to its base will be the emergency parliamentary debate on Afghanistan and, in particular, the words of the former Prime Minister: "Where is global Britain on the streets of Kabul?" MPs and peers had harsh words for the United States and its government in that debate. The US government gave as good as it got by inferring that the UK authorities were partly to blame for the casualties of the terrorist attack by insisting on keeping the Abbey Gate open.
There have been tensions and spats between the US and UK in the past as Philip Stephens noted in his article, Kabul retreat leaves the UK on a bridge to nowhere (26 Aug 2021 Financial Times). These have been forgotten and forgiven as the UK stayed close to the only giant in Liliput. But the decision of the last two presidents to withdraw from Afghanistan come what may has made that giant appear old and feeble, especially in contrast to the vigorous, youthful giant that is emerging in Asia. The Chinese government's newspaper, Global Times, was not slow to question the strength of the US commitment to Taiwan in the light of the evacuation from Kabul. Aspiring to be Greece to America's Rome may have made sense during the pax Americana. With the legions in retreat, it is much less easy to justify.
Although there are no immediate signs of it happening, August may be the month in which the British public begins to rediscover the advantages of collaborating with its neighbours. When the Prime Minister argued in Parliament that the UK had no choice but to accept the American withdrawal, at least one MP asked why the government did not explore the possibility of working with other NATO allies to ensure an orderly withdrawal of nationals if not the continuation of the mission. It is already clear that several of the UK's neighbours have overtaken the UK and other English speaking countries in vaccinating their citizens, Also, none of them is suffering the distribution difficulties caused by the shortage of HGV drivers with the ending of free movement of labour. No amount of free trade agreements with countries on the other side of the world will solve those problems but closer cooperation with the EU might.
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