Tag: Harold Wilson

Brexit represents an opportunity for Britain to boost its global military standing in response to the threats posed by Russia and China, the defence secretary will say in a notably combative address at a defence thinktank. Gavin Williamson intends to argue in a speech at the Royal United Services Institute on Monday that a post-Brexit UK should redefine its role as a global power prepared to intervene against countries that “flout international law”, backed up by new military technologies and capabilities. The cabinet minister, who is increasingly keen to talk up Brexit at a time when a deal is elusive, is expected to say leaving the EU will allow the UK “to consider how we not only project but maximise our influence around the world in the months and years to come”. Japanese PM implores Britain not to leave EU without a deal Read more Williamson is expected to conclude: “Brexit has brought us to a great moment in our history. The defence secretary wants the UK to step up its presence in Asia with a new military base – a generation after Harold Wilson retreated from “east of Suez” – and will confirm that the first of Britain’s next-generation aircraft carriers, the Queen Elizabeth, will tour the Pacific as part of its maiden voyage in around 2021. Last September a British warship, the HMS Albion, sailed close to islands claimed by China in an attempt to demonstrate that the UK does not recognise claims beyond the internationally agreed 12-mile limit. China described the action as provocative. “This is why ‘global Britain’ needs to be much more than a pithy phrase. “And our armed forces represent the best of global Britain in action: action to oppose those who flout international law; and action, on occasion, that may lead to us intervene ourselves.” The minister will confirm that cash – understood to be in the tens of millions – will be set aside for investment in offensive and defence cyberwarfare capability to contend with a threat associated with Russia and China, confirming reports from last September that the number of specialist hackers will increase from 500 to 2,000. “Instead of simply engaging in yet more sabre-rattling, Gavin Williamson should get to grips with the crisis in defence funding that is happening on his watch,” she said.

The former Treasury minister Denzil Davies, who has died aged 80, was a brilliant but mercurial politician for whom the promise of a glittering Westminster career was thwarted by the unfortunate combination of Labour’s long years in opposition after 1979 and his somewhat volatile character. The son of a colliery blacksmith from Carmarthenshire, Davies left the valleys of south-west Wales for Pembroke College, Oxford, where his outstanding intellect was confirmed by a first-class honours degree in law. Davies was a charming, popular and convivial man who throughout his 35 years in the Commons resisted aligning himself with the factions of either left or right in the Labour party and was driven, rather, by his own strongly held political convictions. He had tried to resist Kinnock reappointing him to defence after the general election in 1987 – having unsuccessfully sought instead to become foreign affairs spokesman – and was irritated by Kinnock’s style of leadership. At Westminster he became parliamentary private secretary to the Welsh secretary John Morris in 1974, until becoming a minister himself in 1975. He was switched to defence in 1982 and briefly to Welsh affairs when Kinnock first took over as leader in 1983, before then being moved back to defence and disarmament. In doing so, however, he thus guaranteed his place as a backbencher during the Blair government. He stood down as MP in 2005. The compensation of his latter years was to have found profound happiness in his second marriage, in 1989, to Ann Carlton, the journalist and author, who had previously worked as a member of the Labour party research staff. His first marriage, in 1963, to Mary Ann Finlay, ended in divorce in 1988.

The former Treasury minister Denzil Davies, who has died aged 80, was a brilliant but mercurial politician for whom the promise of a glittering Westminster career was thwarted by the unfortunate combination of Labour’s long years in opposition after 1979 and his somewhat volatile character. The son of a colliery blacksmith from Carmarthenshire, Davies left the valleys of south-west Wales for Pembroke College, Oxford, where his outstanding intellect was confirmed by a first-class honours degree in law. Davies was a charming, popular and convivial man who throughout his 35 years in the Commons resisted aligning himself with the factions of either left or right in the Labour party and was driven, rather, by his own strongly held political convictions. He had tried to resist Kinnock reappointing him to defence after the general election in 1987 – having unsuccessfully sought instead to become foreign affairs spokesman – and was irritated by Kinnock’s style of leadership. At Westminster he became parliamentary private secretary to the Welsh secretary John Morris in 1974, until becoming a minister himself in 1975. He was switched to defence in 1982 and briefly to Welsh affairs when Kinnock first took over as leader in 1983, before then being moved back to defence and disarmament. In doing so, however, he thus guaranteed his place as a backbencher during the Blair government. He stood down as MP in 2005. The compensation of his latter years was to have found profound happiness in his second marriage, in 1989, to Ann Carlton, the journalist and author, who had previously worked as a member of the Labour party research staff. His first marriage, in 1963, to Mary Ann Finlay, ended in divorce in 1988.