US needs to restore moral authority in world – UK Tories

By IRNA

London : Britain’s opposition Conservative Party Saturday called for the US to make America a country “to look up to” after President George W Bush steps down next January.


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“Certainly America does need to restore its authority in the world,” shadow foreign secretary William Hague said, but resisted in saying whether his party was backing likely Republican candidate John McCain or probable Democrat rival Barack Obama.

The election of either McCain or Obama as US president would elevate US politics in the eyes of a global audience, Hague said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph.

“This is a country we ought to be able to look up to and acknowledge as our single most important relationship in the world and I think that, or I really hope the new president it going to take that opportunity to present that to the world again,” he said.

Britain’s right-wing Tory party reportedly fell out of favour with the Bush Administration for criticising aspects of the Iraq war despite its traditional alliance with US republicans. It has also expressed unease at the way American foreign policy has been run.

But Hague said his party was not taking sides in the election and that he had been extending contacts with democrat policy-makers, which in the past have been more in line with Britain;s ruling Labour Party.

“Do we admire John McCain? Absolutely. He’s an extraordinary man with a level of integrity and experience that people don’t normally match in politics. But is Obama an exciting candidate, too? Of course,” he said.

“I think we have to know both sides and actually I think it benefits them to know both sides of British politics,” the shadow foreign secretary told the daily.

During his interview, he was also critical of the foreign policy of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, saying that he was not robust enough and failed to match fine words with deeds in some of the most crucial areas.

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