Given up talking about Labour prospects now Will?

doesn’t this quote:

“The Americans want Britain to be effective in Europe, they want Britain to build a strong European partner in a multi-polar world.”

in fact show the continued need for a special relationship, even if it is merely based (which I don’t think the present one is) on a shared language and similar political history, to provide a useful bridge for America to Europe? Labour have always argued that you can’t be Atlanticist without being pro-European: that now the Tories have abandoned their mainstream European allies, they also risk throwing away our ties with America. Surely a multipolar world will require us to strengthen all the relationships that work – be they with America, Europe, the Commonwealth, or the rest of the world – so the UK is able effectively and multilaterally to engage with that world. There’s no zero-sum game here – in this instance, we can have the best of both – and, indeed, all – worlds.

I don’t remember the precise order but the answer was –

– Israel
– China
– EU

Kind of backs up our next PM’s argument imo.

I also seem to remember the Yanks taking a neutral position in relation to the latest Argie claims to the Falklands. One state department official even called them the Malvinas (cheeky blighter).

Finally, look at the demographic change in America, increasing numbers of African-Amercians and Latinos, and fewer WASPs with historic ties to Britain.

But still, Labour and Tory leaders persist in the ‘special’ fantasy like some obsessed schoolboy sitting in his bedroom thinking Cheryl Cole will be calling anytime.