Labour’s ‘culture of capitulation’ will cost the UK dear, a former top diplomat warned on Thursday, as the Government is set to apologise for Britain’s role in the slave trade.
John Jenkins likened Andy Burnham‘s planned apology to a ‘shakedown’ by ‘professional grievance entrepreneurs’ seeking reparations from UK taxpayers.
The ex-Foreign Office director for the Middle East and North Africa warned a series of ‘capitulations’ by the British State ‘only invites further demands’.
Sir John said attempts to ‘surrender’ the Chagos Islands have not only failed to settle the matter, but created more challenges to British sovereignty as other countries have ‘scented weakness’.
He added that by ‘unnecessarily accepting’ a non-binding court ruling on ownership of the archipelago, Labour has ’emboldened Argentine claims on the Falklands’.
In a report for the Policy Exchange, the former ambassador to Saudi Arabia also points to responses to the IRA, Iran and Islamists as examples of how the UK has ‘accepted threats and grievances detrimental to British interests, with each retreat encouraging fresh concessions’.
Sir John warned this has left the UK exposed to ‘increasingly extravagant claims’, such as an £18trillion bill for slavery after the UN voted in favour of Britain and other former colonial powers paying reparations.
He said: ‘Even the most casual observer might be forgiven for thinking all this simply represents a cynical and mercenary shakedown of a guilt-ridden West by professional grievance entrepreneurs. It is certainly true that the claims made in support of reparations range from the ignorant to the bizarre.’
Sir John Jenkins, former British ambassador to Saudi Arabia, who has warned that Labour’s ‘culture of capitulation’ risks costing the UK billions
King Charles III meets Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
To reassert Britain’s position on the world stage and see off such demands, the Government must eschew ‘tired mantras about ‘soft power’ and instead rebuild the Armed Forces, he added.
In a foreword to the think-tank’s report, Professor John Bew, a foreign policy adviser to four prime ministers, said Britons do ‘self-flagellation and status anxiety with a relish few nations can match’.
He said foreign policy ‘could do with a stiffening of spine’ and the Government should pursue ‘historical self-reflection rather than historical self-flagellation’.
If not, it is offering an ‘open invitation for others to take advantage of a Britain that appears too up for grabs, and too quick to seek to buy off adversaries with an ever-diminishing pot of national gold’, added Professor Bew.
At a meeting of Commonwealth countries in Antigua this week, the Prime Minister agreed to hold talks on the harms caused by the slave trade. Mr Burnham said he is willing to make a formal apology on behalf of the UK for its role in slavery, but has ruled out paying reparations.
However, he refused to rule out other contributions short of direct reparations, saying he wants to look at ways to help Commonwealth countries struggling with debt repayments.
The UK will also hand out £40million to invest in Caribbean infrastructure.
The Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, has suggested this process would likely be concluded within a year.
