A former Foreign Office adviser to David Lammy has called for the UK to abandon the term “special relationship” with the United States, arguing it is a “sham” that leaves Britain weak and strategically dependent on an erratic superpower.
Writing in an opinion piece, the adviser, who served for just over a year, said the phrase “isn’t helpful” and “comes across as weak and needy”. They claimed that what British people think of as the special relationship does not exist in diplomatic terms, with no special favours from the White House.
The real bond, they argued, lies in people-to-people ties: shared language, history, culture, and business links. However, they warned that the UK’s reliance on the US for security, particularly over Ukraine, has become a problem as Washington becomes “profoundly erratic, turbulent and unpredictable”.
The adviser suggested that the UK should instead invest in its “other special relationship” with Europe, advocating closer economic ties with Brussels and joint borrowing for military buildup, echoing French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for European strategic autonomy.
They noted that while the US-UK relationship has survived past fallings-out, including the Suez crisis and Harold Wilson’s refusal to join the Vietnam War, the current volatility makes it essential for Britain to build a stronger European pole.
