12 November 2007
Gordon Brown has spoken at length on Britain’s foreign policy priorities in his first address as PM at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet.
Mr Brown took the opportunity of his appearance at the traditional annual event to stress the importance of the UK’s relationship with the US and to call for Iran to resolve its differences with the international community on the issue of nuclear development.
Mr Brown also said there was a great opportunity to forge a stronger relationship between the US and the EU following the appointment of new administrations, led by Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel respectively, in France and Germany.
The PM said:
"I believe that our ties with America - founded on values we share - constitute our most important bilateral relationship. And it is good for Britain, for Europe and for the wider world that today France and Germany and the European Union are building stronger relationships with America."
On Iran, the Prime Minister said that the country could enjoy a "transformed relationship" with the world if it abided by its Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations and accepted international assistance with its civil nuclear programme. Iran’s nuclear ambitions were "the greatest challenge to non-proliferation" in the world today, he said.
The Prime Minister added that stronger international relationships should be used to help build stronger international institutions to deal more effectively with global issues such as climate change and state failure. He referred to a number of areas currently on the international agenda, including the ongoing conflict in Darfur and the struggles of the pro-democracy movement in Burma.
Image copyright: Reuters
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