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David Lammy recently told a radio interviewer he had “a powerful sense that I’m the right guy in the right job at the right time to do this”, as foreign secretary.
Those who travelled with him observed a man in his element, whether in the frozen wastes of Svalbard or the corridors of power. He confided that he expected to stay in the job for the duration of this parliament.
So much for all that.
Follow the latest: Lammy, Cooper and Mahmood get new jobs
While opinions differ on how good he was at his job, he certainly revelled in it and threw himself into the role.
He is making way for someone who has never held an international affairs posting in government. Yvette Cooper’s experience in power goes back to the Blair years, but it’s always been on the home front.
And yet this rookie diplomat could not be taking up the reins as Britain’s foreign secretary at a more challenging time.
The war in Ukraine has mutated into something even more challenging than the biggest land war on the continent of Europe since the Second World War. It is turning into a monumental struggle between East and West.
Vladimir Putin is resurgent, striding the world stage again, and this week winning more support from China and North Korea.
Front from left, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrive at a military parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Japan’s World War II surrender in Beijing, China, Wednesday, Sept.
The West seems divided between Europeans who want a ceasefire and more severe sanctions on Russia’s oil trade and Donald Trump, who doesn’t anymore but seems at a loss over what to do instead.
Gaza is sinking into even more of a horror show with no let-up in the war,…
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