US-UK: Still Shoulder to Shoulder?

Inch by inch, ever so slightly, Britain continues to distance itself from the United States on foreign policy. It began with a speech nearly five years ago by then-Conservative Party leader David Cameron in which he urged that the US-UK relationship should be "solid but not slavish." His words, pointedly delivered on the fifth anniversary of 9/11, presaged what would become four years later under Conservative government a deliberate, if slight, recalibration of the so-called special relationship following the shoulder-to-shoulder, "51st state" strategy pursued by Tony Blair. Then, just weeks after his party's 2010 electoral victory, Cameron made it clear on a visit to Turkey that he would take a hardish line on Israel's dealing with the Palestinians: "Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp." Now along comes Cameron's foreign secretary, William Hague, to give Israel and the US a slap on the wrist over the Middle East peace process as revolutions stir among Israel's neighbours. In response to Tunisia and Egypt, Hague has called on Israel to get on with negotiations and drop the negative posture it has adopted in response to the turmoil in Egypt: "Part of the fear is that uncertainty and change will complicate the process still further. That means there is a real urgency for the Israelis and the United States. Recent events mean this is an even more urgent priority and that's a case we are putting to the Israeli Government and in Washington,” he said.