Luke Graham: Labour’s lack of ambition not only impacts partners and allies abroad, but it also politics at home
Ask why this angle was chosen.
Luke Graham was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Ochil and Perthshire South from 2017 to 2019, the candidate in Perth and Kinross-shire in 2024, and a former head of the Downing Street Union Unit.
The Prime Minister’s trip to China in the past week threw up some comical visuals: the PM unable to place himself in official line ups, being fobbed off on a public tour of the Forbidden City and an interview where the PM declared “visa free travel” as the major win of the British-Chinese “reset”.
The trip was revealing, not because it failed entirely, but because it exposed something deeper about the current state of British politics. The awkward optics, weak headlines and the absence of a commanding political narrative were less important than what they symbolised – they reflected a government that has stopped thinking ambitiously about its role in the world.
There were, to be fair, tangible outcomes. Scottish whisky tariffs were reduced from 10 per cent to 5 per cent. Chinese investment commitments were confirmed in Liverpool and London. Thirty-day visa-free travel will benefit business and tourism. These are not insignificant gains. But when set alongside the scale, confidence and strategic framing of recent French and Canadian visits to Beijing, Britain’s intervention felt modest and managerial rather than purposeful.
Combine this with the back and forth over the new Chinese embassy in London, the disastrous Chagos islands “deal” and our lack of a grand strategy, the UK risks being swept along by the leading powers. Our state no longer a symbol of strength and a dependable law-making, but a country undergoing a quiet crisis of confidence.
Now there have been plenty of column inches detailing the UK’s “managed decline”. Far less attention has been paid to something more corrosive — the decline of ambition. Despite our natural resources, the diverse talents of our incredible people and position as one of the G7 economies, our political discourse focuses on muddling through, making minor tweaks – gone are the grand plans or aspirational goals, now we are led to believe we can only improve 0.2 per cent here, 0.1 percentage points more there.
The language of national purpose has been replaced by the language of process.
This lack of ambition ripples through the government, economy, and society. I grew up in the wake of Thatcher’s substantial economic reforms, hitting my teens as New Labour came to power promising to abolish child poverty, “save” the NHS and implement “just and moral” foreign policy through actions in the Sierra Leone and Kosovo. David Cameron came to power offering the “Big Society” and a full programme of economic adjustment to help recover from the 2008 financial crisis, even amongst the Brexit negotiations Boris defined …
Ask why this angle was chosen.
Luke Graham was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Ochil and Perthshire South from 2017 to 2019, the candidate in Perth and Kinross-shire in 2024, and a former head of the Downing Street Union Unit.
The Prime Minister’s trip to China in the past week threw up some comical visuals: the PM unable to place himself in official line ups, being fobbed off on a public tour of the Forbidden City and an interview where the PM declared “visa free travel” as the major win of the British-Chinese “reset”.
The trip was revealing, not because it failed entirely, but because it exposed something deeper about the current state of British politics. The awkward optics, weak headlines and the absence of a commanding political narrative were less important than what they symbolised – they reflected a government that has stopped thinking ambitiously about its role in the world.
There were, to be fair, tangible outcomes. Scottish whisky tariffs were reduced from 10 per cent to 5 per cent. Chinese investment commitments were confirmed in Liverpool and London. Thirty-day visa-free travel will benefit business and tourism. These are not insignificant gains. But when set alongside the scale, confidence and strategic framing of recent French and Canadian visits to Beijing, Britain’s intervention felt modest and managerial rather than purposeful.
Combine this with the back and forth over the new Chinese embassy in London, the disastrous Chagos islands “deal” and our lack of a grand strategy, the UK risks being swept along by the leading powers. Our state no longer a symbol of strength and a dependable law-making, but a country undergoing a quiet crisis of confidence.
Now there have been plenty of column inches detailing the UK’s “managed decline”. Far less attention has been paid to something more corrosive — the decline of ambition. Despite our natural resources, the diverse talents of our incredible people and position as one of the G7 economies, our political discourse focuses on muddling through, making minor tweaks – gone are the grand plans or aspirational goals, now we are led to believe we can only improve 0.2 per cent here, 0.1 percentage points more there.
The language of national purpose has been replaced by the language of process.
This lack of ambition ripples through the government, economy, and society. I grew up in the wake of Thatcher’s substantial economic reforms, hitting my teens as New Labour came to power promising to abolish child poverty, “save” the NHS and implement “just and moral” foreign policy through actions in the Sierra Leone and Kosovo. David Cameron came to power offering the “Big Society” and a full programme of economic adjustment to help recover from the 2008 financial crisis, even amongst the Brexit negotiations Boris defined …
Luke Graham: Labour’s lack of ambition not only impacts partners and allies abroad, but it also politics at home
Ask why this angle was chosen.
Luke Graham was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Ochil and Perthshire South from 2017 to 2019, the candidate in Perth and Kinross-shire in 2024, and a former head of the Downing Street Union Unit.
The Prime Minister’s trip to China in the past week threw up some comical visuals: the PM unable to place himself in official line ups, being fobbed off on a public tour of the Forbidden City and an interview where the PM declared “visa free travel” as the major win of the British-Chinese “reset”.
The trip was revealing, not because it failed entirely, but because it exposed something deeper about the current state of British politics. The awkward optics, weak headlines and the absence of a commanding political narrative were less important than what they symbolised – they reflected a government that has stopped thinking ambitiously about its role in the world.
There were, to be fair, tangible outcomes. Scottish whisky tariffs were reduced from 10 per cent to 5 per cent. Chinese investment commitments were confirmed in Liverpool and London. Thirty-day visa-free travel will benefit business and tourism. These are not insignificant gains. But when set alongside the scale, confidence and strategic framing of recent French and Canadian visits to Beijing, Britain’s intervention felt modest and managerial rather than purposeful.
Combine this with the back and forth over the new Chinese embassy in London, the disastrous Chagos islands “deal” and our lack of a grand strategy, the UK risks being swept along by the leading powers. Our state no longer a symbol of strength and a dependable law-making, but a country undergoing a quiet crisis of confidence.
Now there have been plenty of column inches detailing the UK’s “managed decline”. Far less attention has been paid to something more corrosive — the decline of ambition. Despite our natural resources, the diverse talents of our incredible people and position as one of the G7 economies, our political discourse focuses on muddling through, making minor tweaks – gone are the grand plans or aspirational goals, now we are led to believe we can only improve 0.2 per cent here, 0.1 percentage points more there.
The language of national purpose has been replaced by the language of process.
This lack of ambition ripples through the government, economy, and society. I grew up in the wake of Thatcher’s substantial economic reforms, hitting my teens as New Labour came to power promising to abolish child poverty, “save” the NHS and implement “just and moral” foreign policy through actions in the Sierra Leone and Kosovo. David Cameron came to power offering the “Big Society” and a full programme of economic adjustment to help recover from the 2008 financial crisis, even amongst the Brexit negotiations Boris defined …
