It is worth harking back to what Prime Minister Boris Johnson said when he was a foreign secretary: "We should have absolutely no shame or embarrassment in championing our ideals around the world and in this era of dithering and dubitation, this should be the message of Global Britain to the world: that we stick up for free markets as vigorously as we stick up for democracy and human rights." While he may have stumbled on his own rules during the Covid restrictions in the UK, those words he spoke as foreign secretary could not be more relevant to the direction of Global Britain today.
Amanda Milling MP, Minister for Asia at the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), reflected this commitment on her Twitter account that "the UK holds the principles of democracy, human rights and freedom of expression close to our hearts" after meeting with local human rights defenders during her visit to Thailand on Jan 11–14, 2022.
This is a clever move by the foreign policy circles in the FCDO who are responsible for the Southeast Asian region. However, it is not a well-thought through approach and shows a lack of commitment to the principles of democracy and human rights they claim to hold dear. This diplomatic game stretches back to a few months ago when Foreign Secretary Liz Truss touched solely on issues related to trade and investment on her visit to Thailand.
