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In the latest event in Hanover’s ‘The World Rewired’ series, Lord Kim Darroch said a good performance from Harris in the first head-to-head televised debate did not mean Democrats should get ‘too carried away’ in their hopes of victory on 5 November.
Hillary Clinton was seen as the winner of all her TV debates against Trump in 2016 – but still ended up losing, the former top diplomat warned.
Moderated by Hanover’s President and Managing Director, the conversation ranged over UK-US relations, China, war in Ukraine and the Middle East, and the weakening of global institutions with Lord Kim warning that the world was in a ‘dangerously fragile’ state.
Among the top takeaways from Lord Kim who, during a distinguished career spanning four decades, was also the UK’s Permanent Representative to the European Union, were:
Brexit has badly diminished Britain’s crucial role as a ‘bridge’ between the US and the EU, lessening our influence by between 30 and 40 per cent.
The progress of the war in Ukraine is heavily dependent on the outcome of the US election. A Harris victory is likely to see the West’s current level of support for Ukraine continue while if Trump wins, President Zelensky is set to be pushed into a ‘very unpleasant’ territory-conceding deal with Vladimir Putin.
Putin spent hours ‘trying every Scotch whisky in the bar’ with then German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, French president Jacques Chirac and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at a UK-hosted world leaders’ summit.
The closest relationships between UK and US leaders were (joint-first) Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, and Tony Blair and Bill Clinton.
If China blockaded Taiwan, the threat to the supply of crucial semi-conductors could ‘bring the global economy to its knees’.
Lord Kim’s ‘top tip’ as the next British ambassador to Washington is former Labour foreign secretary David Miliband, with Blair’s ex-chief of staff Jonathan Powell a ‘dark horse’.
Lord Kim ended a fascinating session by urging business leaders in Britain to harness the country’s ‘huge amount of intellectual brilliance, creativity and innovation’ to help the country – and the whole world – to tread a path away from the current global peril and towards better times ahead.