Britain: Whom, sir, are you calling small?
At the G-20, Prime Minister David Cameron was “clearly irritated” by a remark made by a top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It was “an astonishing insult,” said Macer Hall in the Daily Express. On the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in St. Petersburg last week, a top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin told Russian journalists not to pay attention to British suggestions about Syria. “Britain,” said spokesman Dmitry Peskov, “is a small island nobody pays any attention to, apart from the Russian oligarchs who bought up Chelsea.” It wasn’t clear whether he meant Chelsea the soccer team, owned by Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich, or Chelsea the London neighborhood, home to many of the Russian billionaires who have relocated to the U.K. Peskov later denied making the remark at all. But Prime Minister David Cameron was “clearly irritated” and launched into a spirited defense of British achievement that reminded many of the pivotal scene in the movie Love Actually, when the British prime minister played by Hugh Grant denounces American arrogance and lists what makes Britain great.
Cameron’s impulse to speak out was understandable, said Rod Liddle in The Sunday Times. “It’s partly the vestigial tail of our colonial past wagging away.” But it did seem a bit defensive, didn’t it? He invoked Shakespeare and the Beatles as evidence of our excellence and then got rather muddled and added the boy band One Direction. Perhaps he’d have done better to emulate the Russian style of insult by getting an aide to sniff that “at least we didn’t enslave half of Europe for 50 years under a regime characterized by brutality and stupidity, nor are we yet a mafia state, and also at least we treat our homosexuals quite decently.” That would have hit home.
Instead, Cameron made a slew of ridiculous assertions about our alleged superiority, said Stephen Moss in The Guardian. Let’s take his boasts point by point. That Britain helped clear Europe of fascism: Maybe, but “by being arch-appeasers during the 1930s, the U.K. helped make Hitler possible.” That Britain helped abolish slavery: “Only after we had profited from slavery for 300 years.” That we invented the world’s sports: We didn’t, not even cricket—we just codified the rules. That our culture is supreme: “We would get an A for literature and score highly for pop,” but elsewhere we are weak. Here’s what we really used to be good at: “our stiff-upper-lipped modesty.” Where did that go? “If you need to boast of your greatness, it probably means you are not very great.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Russian taunt “hit home because we fear its element of truth,” said The Daily Telegraph in an editorial. Britain’s opinion is not the first sought. At the G-20, for example, Cameron “cut a somewhat forlorn figure, not entirely irrelevant but not entirely relevant either.” In that uncomfortable setting, his speech sounded a little too much like “a desperate plea for attention.” Shorn of its imperial power for decades now, Britain seems to be struggling “yet to find a role.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'His death creates an opportunity for rough justice'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Movies to watch in October, from 'Joker: Folie à Deux' to 'Saturday Night'
The Week Recommends Joaquin Phoenix as Joker, a new Jason Reitman comedy and a buzzy Palme d'Or winner
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
What should you consider when choosing a financial adviser?
The Explainer The right person can be a big help with financial planning, investing, taxes and more
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Will 'weirdly civil' VP debate move dial in US election?
Today's Big Question 'Diametrically opposed' candidates showed 'a lot of commonality' on some issues, but offered competing visions for America's future and democracy
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
1 of 6 'Trump Train' drivers liable in Biden bus blockade
Speed Read Only one of the accused was found liable in the case concerning the deliberate slowing of a 2020 Biden campaign bus
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court rejects challenge to CFPB
Speed Read The court rejected a conservative-backed challenge to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published