Brexit anniversary highlights need for visionary leadership in UK<\/a><\/p>\nThis is why, for example, the US has sought to delegitimize the UK\u2019s Online Safety Act, which is aimed at preventing children from accessing potentially harmful material online. The act requires online platforms and pornographic websites, including those in the US, to implement mandatory age verification and proactive content moderation. However, the US vice-president, JD Vance, does not want American tech companies to be subject to the act, and he has branded it as extreme censorship and an attack on free speech.<\/p>\n
He undoubtedly imagines that if the act is sufficiently demonized, the British government will have no choice but to review its operations and scrap it.<\/p>\n
The US, moreover, is also now increasingly seeking to dictate British foreign policy. In 2019, for example, the International Court of Justice decided that the UK\u2019s continued occupation of the Chagos Islands, an Indian Ocean archipelago, was unlawful and that they should be returned to Mauritius \u201cas rapidly as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n
Thereafter, in 2024, the British and Mauritian governments agreed that the UK would hand over the islands to Mauritius, while securing a 99-year-lease to continue operating the military base on Diego Garcia (also used by the US). However, Starmer had reckoned without Trump, who was not happy. In January, Trump called the agreement an \u201cact of great stupidity\u201d, and Starmer was obliged, in defiance of international law, to shelve the ratification process indefinitely.<\/p>\n
Although Burnham has audaciously declared (July 11) that he plans to revive the Chagos deal, it will be fascinating to see how he responds once Trump applies the thumbscrews, as he did with his predecessors.<\/p>\n
When the British people decided that the UK should regain its sovereignty by leaving the European Union, they never intended that control by Brussels would be replaced by subservience to Washington. The Trump administration has shown it wants to determine Britain\u2019s domestic and foreign policies, and it has walked all over Starmer (just as it did with Boris Johnson, in Trump\u2019s first term, when the UK was forced to abandon a deal with Chinese mainland technology firm Huawei in 2020).<\/p>\n
For his country\u2019s sake, it must be hoped that Burnham is made of sterner stuff and will stand tall. He must demonstrate to Trump and everybody else that he will be his own man and prioritize British interests.<\/p>\n
It may not be easy, but the UK still has some powerful friends, including in the Far East. Although certainly not a given, they will hopefully be willing to help Burnham as he finds his feet. For example, in his short tenure, Starmer sought closer ties with Beijing, and his groundwork must be built upon. In his previous role as Greater Manchester mayor, Burnham enjoyed cordial relations with China, and, for the sake of his country, it must be hoped he appreciates that this is the way to go.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The author is a senior counsel and law professor, and was previously the director of public prosecutions of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.<\/p>\n
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.<\/p>\n
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Although Andy Burnham<\/a> has yet to succeed Sir Keir Starmer as the British prime minister, the United States is already interfering in his planning. On July 4, The Independent, quoting informed sources, reported that US President Donald Trump\u2019s team, which believed it would be a \u201cmistake\u201d for Burnham to appoint Ed Miliband, currently the energy secretary, as the new chancellor of the exchequer, had privately made its views known to its British counterparts and senior Labour Party figures.<\/p>\n