The Staggers

The New Statesman’s rolling politics blog

Cameron can’t afford any more foreign policy gaffes

It’s easy to acquire a reputation for gaffes and much harder to lose it.

By George Eaton Published 06 August 2010 11:06

By some measurements, David Cameron has now made four foreign policy gaffes in the past two weeks. In the latest example, he mistakenly referred to "the fact that Iran has got a nuclear weapon". At the same event, he received a verbal lashing over his description of Britain as "junior partner" to the US in 1940 in fighting the Second World War (the Americans, of course, entered the war in 1941).

Labour is hard at work portraying Cameron as a diplomatic nightmare, though I think it's safe to say that he'll never make as big a blunder as invading Iraq. It is also important to distinguish Cameron's comments on Israel and Pakistan (both accurate and refreshingly honest) from his slip-ups on Iran and the Second World War.

But at the same time it's already clear that foreign affairs isn't Cameron's strongest suit. We had a hint of that during the leaders' debates when he suggested that China posed a nuclear threat to the UK. In the case of Iran, it's important that Cameron is on top of his brief, not least because the issue has the potential to split the coalition.

Unlike the Conservatives, the Lib Dems explicitly opposed military action against Iran in their manifesto. By contrast, the Tories left all options on the table, stating: "We support concerted international efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."

Either way, as a number of US presidents learned to their cost, it's easy to acquire a reputation for gaffes and much harder to lose it. Tony Blair was memorably advised to include some economics textbooks in his summer reading. In similar fashion, someone at the Foreign Office might want to have a quiet word with Cameron before he heads off to the beach.

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Tags: David Cameron

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17 comments

Fri, 2010-08-06 15:57 — praha7 (not verified)

@Dave C.

And I wonder when and if the U.S.would have declared war on Germany if Hitler had been wiser.

Mon, 2010-08-09 17:45 — Chris East (not verified)

I think we should pull out of Afghanistan and leave it to our senior partners. Just like 1940, eh Dave!

Sat, 2010-08-07 23:31 — Graeme (not verified)

@Viva - I agree when must remind the trolls and everyone who this unelected government lied their way into power. There is no mandate, and Clegg will must make it up when it convenient to his needs.

Fri, 2010-08-06 17:40 — Ziggy Stardust (not verified)

This is not a surprise to me, Cameron during one of the leaders debates, said that we are under a nuclear war threat from China. However, it doesn't really matter what he says about other countries though is it? I mean, anyone who takes what we say seriously is an idiot looking for good media coverage. Everyone around the world knows that we are no longer a superpower,we're not even in the top 3, if it weren't for our 'special relationship' with America, we'd be fighting against Soviet oppression right about now. So, Mr Cameron, you can carry on making gaffes, who cares about what other countries think, what we want is what's good for our society, and not what some Pakistani Prezza in dunlop jeans is thinking.

Fri, 2010-08-06 19:44 — Abdi (not verified)

No wonder why mr Cameron is making such gaffes. The British people were advised in advance not to elect him as PM. By not accepting such advice, it shows that the Brits, unlike USA, have no attention to restructure their foreign policy.

Fri, 2010-08-06 21:55 — Viva (not verified)

We did not elect dave as PM as such. No-one got the overall vote too be Pm.

Thank goodness that saved us from 5 years of "we have your mandate to do what ever we want".

Fri, 2010-08-06 22:21 — jeremiah

Christ! I hope it was a gaffe!

Fri, 2010-08-06 11:16 — swatantra nandanwar

Could his foreign policy advisor be Boris Johnson? And, does Cameron know where Turkmenistan is? Not another name for Turkey surely? Junior Partner, my foot.
I blame Eton and that emphasis on Classics.

Fri, 2010-08-06 11:37 — Hova (not verified)

I remember this article wrote a hypothetical analysis of the next 5 years under his leadership. One thing that particularly struck me was the possibility of him invading Iran.

I still beleive this is on the cards.

Fri, 2010-08-06 11:46 — Dave C (not verified)

And if I remember rightly, even after Pearl Harbor, FDR didn't think he had enough support to go further than declaring war on Japan.

However, Hitler handily solved FDR's problem by declaring war on the USA.

Fri, 2010-08-06 12:02 — writeoff (not verified)

... and British forces were only outnumbered by the US commitment much later in the war... so we weren't immediately 'junior partners'...

Fri, 2010-08-06 12:09 — Hugh Markey (not verified)

Surely Philip Hammond kick-started all this foot-in-mouth brouhaha when he informed BBC viewers that Bismark had introduced the old-age pension with a qualifying age of 65.
Bismark cunningly set the qualifying age at 70. Still, we're getting there.
Senior Citizen

Fri, 2010-08-06 12:34 — mr_wonderful (not verified)

Cameron is lucky he won't ever have to face an Iraq situation.

Fri, 2010-08-06 14:01 — Arthur Williamson (not verified)

I think there is another howler/gaffe which hasn`t been picked up.

Mr Cameron, whilst in the US licking Mr Obama`s a***, made it clear he believes the decision to release Mr Megrahi was `a mistake` by the Scottish government.

Now, correct me if I`m wrong, but back in the 1990`s, Lybia agreed to hand over Mr Megrahi for trial following a UN led agreement which America endorsed. As part of this agreement, Mr Megrahi was to be placed on trial UNDER SCOTTISH LAW, and if found guilty, he would be sentenced and jailed UNDER SCOTTISH LAW.

I think you will find that, according to the terms laid out in Scottish law, any prisoner, irrespective of their offence, can be granted early release on compassionate grounds if he/she is terminally ill or dying.

Do the American`s have grounds for complaint, ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Please correct me if I`m wrong but I do believe Mr Cameron`s remarks towards the Scottish government`s release of Mr Megrahi is yet another example of Mr Cameron`s BLUNDERING DIPLOMACY