I recently had a meeting with the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson at his House of Commons office.
Readers will be aware that there is a wide array of important foreign affairs concerns around the world at the moment, including for example the situation in Yemen, the expansionist behaviour of Russia, the medieval barbarity of Daesh (ISIS) in the Middle East, and much more.
The United Kingdom plays a vastly important role in the world. This is in part due to historical reasons, but also our prowess in trade and our leadership in areas such as security and human rights. Our humanitarian and developmental aid also makes a huge difference to millions of lives and has helped Britain achieve a ranking of First in the world in ‘soft power’ (the ability of a country to persuade and influence other countries). Boris Johnson is a popular and effective Foreign Secretary who is making a very positive case for Britain and British values around the world.
I have known Boris for many years now, and he came to Northampton as my guest to visit the University of Northampton a couple of years ago, when thousands of students came out to see him.
We both agree that it is imperative that the UK continues to be active in global affairs – something which will continue to be the case once we have left the EU as the Prime Minister confirmed in her vision for a ‘global’ Britain post-Brexit.