‘Freedoms need to be defended’: Truss hails AUKUS submarine deal amid deepening row with France
New Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has defended the UK’s “hard-headed” security pact with the US and Australia, amid a deepening diplomatic row with France.
The AUKUS deal saw the UK, Australia and the US form a security pact to develop and deploy a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, adding to the Western military presence in the Pacific region.
Ms Truss said the agreement showed Britain’s readiness to be “hard-headed in defending our interests”, adding that it could result in hundreds of new jobs.
France was outraged by the deal which sees them losing out on a £30bn contract to supply conventional submarines to Australia, who opted for nuclear-powered subs provided by Britain and the US.
In response, they recalled their ambassadors to the US and Australia, although there was no similar order to return to Paris for the French envoy to London.
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, Ms Truss made no mention of the diplomatic stand-off with the French.
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British nuclear-powered subs make rare ‘surface’
Earlier, however, a French minister scornfully referred to the UK as the “junior partner” in the trilateral agreement and accused it of returning to hide in the “American lap”.
It comes after Gerard Araud, a former French ambassador to the US, referenced the omission of UK from the ambassador recall.
He wrote on Twitter: “You can interpret the omission of the UK as a sign of conciliation or contempt. Your choice.”
In her article, Ms Truss said the agreement, widely seen as a counter to increasing Chinese military assertiveness in the region, underlined the UK’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific.
She said Britain would always be a “fierce champion” of freedom and that the agreement illustrates the nation’s commitment to “challenging unfair practices and malign acts”.
“Freedoms need to be defended, so we are also building strong security ties around the world,” she wrote.
“That is why last week the prime minister announced, alongside our friends President Biden and Prime Minister Morrison, the creation of a new security partnership called AUKUS.
“It shows our readiness to be hard-headed in defending our interests and challenging unfair practices and malign acts.”
On Saturday, the president of the French National Assembly told Sky News that the bonds of friendship between France and the UK, US and Australia have been “tarnished” by the AUKUS pact.
Speaking while attending the G7 Speakers’ Conference in Chorley, Lancashire, Richard Ferrand said: “I think it has somewhat tarnished the bonds of friendship that we have. Yes, it has made things more difficult in terms of trust and friendship.”
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‘AUKUS alliance will bring us closer than ever’
Pressed on why Catherine Colonna, the top French diplomat in the UK was not recalled, Mr Ferrand said: “Obviously it was not my decision but we thought it was more important to recall the ambassadors of the two main protagonists in this thing.”
Andreas Michaelis, Germany’s ambassador to the UK, has suggested the AUKUS agreement threatens the “coherence and unity of the West”.
In the Commons on Thursday, Boris Johnson sought to smooth over the differences, insisting relations with France remained “rock solid” while Downing Street described Paris as “a close ally and friend” of the UK.
Nevertheless, the prime minister also made clear he expected the agreement to bring “hundreds” of highly-skilled jobs to Britain – jobs which may well have otherwise gone to France.
Ms Truss said the deal could “create hundreds of new and high-skilled jobs, from the shipyards of Govan to the factories of Tyneside”.
The French were reportedly given just a few hours’ notice of the new agreement ahead of what is expected to be a tough election year for Mr Macron.
French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the snub was a “stab in the back” and constituted “unacceptable behaviour between allies and partners”.
The pact between the UK, US and Australia has been widely seen as an attempt to counter the growing military assertiveness of China in the Indo-Pacific region.
Beijing swiftly denounced the initiative as “extremely irresponsible” and a threat to regional peace and stability.
Mr Johnson, however, said it was not intended as an “adversarial” move against China or any other power.
Politics
University tuition fee rise branded ‘morally wrong’ – as Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson defends increase
The education secretary has said no decision has been made on whether university tuition fees will increase with inflation each year.
Bridget Phillipson has announced the maximum cap on tuition fees in England will go up in line with inflation from April 2025.
The cost of tuition will increase by £285 to £9,535 next year – the first rise in eight years.
Politics latest: Big name comeback in new Tory shadow cabinet
There will also be a rise in maximum maintenance loans to increase in line with inflation, giving an increase of £414 a year to help students with living costs.
However, the education secretary did not say if the rise would continue after that.
Speaking to Sky News’ Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge, Ms Phillipson admitted she did not know what would happen with tuition fees after April 2026.
“We’re going to look at this and the maintenance support and the sector overall as part of the reform that we intend to set out in the months to come,” she said.
“So no decision, no decision has been taken on what happens beyond this.”
She said the government will be looking at “what is required… to get our universities on a more sustainable footing… but also to deliver a better deal for students as a part of that”.
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University tuition fees to increase
The minister said she also “intends to look at” uprating the threshold at which students need to start paying tuition fees back in line with inflation.
Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU), said the tuition fee rise was “economically and morally wrong”.
She said: “Taking more money from debt-ridden students and handing it to overpaid underperforming vice-chancellors is ill conceived and won’t come close to addressing the sector’s core issues.”
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The National Union of Students (NUS) said students were being asked to “foot the bill” to keep the lights and heating on in their universities and to prevent their courses from closing down amid the “crisis”.
Alex Stanley, vice president for higher education of the NUS, said: “This is, and can only ever be, a sticking plaster.
“Universities cannot continue to be funded by an ever-increasing burden of debt on students.”
Universities have been making up for fees being frozen since 2017/18 by taking in international students who pay more.
However, student visa numbers have fallen after the previous government made it more difficult for them to come to the UK recently, so universities can no longer rely on the fees.
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Dame Priti Patel has made a comeback as Kemi Badenoch has appointed her shadow foreign secretary, Sky News understands.
Ms Badenoch, who became Conservative leader on Saturday, started officially appointing her shadow cabinet on Sunday evening.
Politics latest: Reaction as Badenoch makes more shadow cabinet appointments
On Monday afternoon, the two biggest jobs were confirmed, with former home secretary Ms Patel being given the shadow foreign secretary role.
Former shadow work and pensions secretary Mel Stride, who ran in the Tory leadership race and is considered more of a moderate than Ms Badenoch, has been made shadow chancellor.
Robert Jenrick, who lost out to Ms Badenoch, is the new shadow justice secretary, sources told Sky News.
Earlier in the day, Laura Trott, who served as chief secretary to the Treasury under Rishi Sunak, was appointed shadow education secretary.
The new Tory leader made her first appointments on Sunday evening ahead of her new top team meeting for the first time on Tuesday.
Mel Stride was work and pensions secretary and stood to be Tory leader
Now the Conservatives are in opposition, the shadow cabinet’s role is to scrutinise the policies and actions of the government and to offer alternative policies.
Nigel Huddleston and Dominic Johnson, junior ministers under Mr Sunak, were appointed joint chairmen of the Conservative Party.
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The role involves overseeing the party’s headquarters, where staff and committee members have their offices.
Essex MP Dame Rebecca Harris was confirmed as chief whip after the interim chief whip Stuart Andrew said she was replacing him.
She will be responsible for ensuring Tory MPs attend and vote in parliament as the party leadership desires.
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Badenoch: ‘We let standards slip’
Former foreign secretary James Cleverly, who came third in the leadership race, said on Friday he would not be joining Ms Badenoch’s top team.
Ex-prime minister Mr Sunak, his former deputy Sir Oliver Dowden, ex-chancellor Jeremy Hunt and former Brexit, health, and environment secretary Steve Barclay have all said they will be joining him on the backbenches.
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