Off the wire
• LME base metals close higher on Friday  • FTSE 100 close higher on Friday  • Germany's benchmark DAX index rebounds  • Foreign exchange rate of Euro to other currencies  • "We have an inescapable moral duty to help refugees": Angelina Jolie  • S. African president promises maximum protection to foreign nationals  • Semifinal lineup at Badminton Asia Championships  • Canada's Senate speaker passes away  • UNDP names NGO, Ghanaian community winners of Equator Prize 2014  • Pakistan seeks details of arrest of terror suspects in Italy  
You are here: 　 Home

British PM slammed by opposition leader for causing Britain's "biggest loss of influence"

Xinhua, April 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Britain's Labor Party leader Ed Miliband on Friday slammed Prime Minister David Cameron for producing the country's "biggest loss of influence" in the world in a generation.

Setting out his party's foreign policy agenda in London, Miliband said that "the difficulties Britain faces in navigating this new global order are made far worse because of decisions" made by the government led by Cameron.

"David Cameron has presided over the biggest loss of influence for our country in a generation. And that has happened because the government he leads has stepped away from the world, rather than confidently towards it," he said in a speech at Chatham House, a leading British think tank.

"It is an approach that has shrunk our influence and weakened Britain," he added.

With a particular focus on Britain's position in the European Union (EU), Miliband said: "By far the most important cause of our loss of influence is the position of the government in regard to the European Union."

Cameron has pledged to hold an "in or out" referendum on whether Britain should withdraw from the EU by 2017, if his Conservative Party wins the 2015 general election.

In his speech, Miliband warned that the threat of an "in or out" referendum, coupled with Cameron's other policies on Europe, "poses a grave risk to Britain's position in the world."

"But this government's approach to Europe means that even when Britain's interests are shared by other member states, EU leaders are reluctant to support us because they think we already have one foot out of the door, " the Labor Party leader elaborated.

"And our loss of influence in Europe leads to a further loss of influence in the world, from the United States to China," he continued.

Noting that Britain's future lies inside a reformed EU, Miliband added: "Britain should be leading the process of reform. We are stronger as a leading partner in the EU, and we are weaker when we are not."

Britain is to hold its next general election on May 7. Endit