The ‘special relationship’ between Britain and the US is just as important today - Yorkshire Post Letters
From: Lester May (Lieutenant Commander, Royal Navy – retired), Reachview Close, Camden Town, London.
Eighty years ago today, Sir Winston Churchill delivered his historic address at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri on March 5, 1946, and coined the phrase “special relationship” referring to the alliance between Great Britain and the United States.
Were we living in happier times, we would likely mark today with a celebration, despite a nutcase having sprayed paint over Churchill’s statue in Parliament Square.
The Special Relationship is central to the Five Eyes, the Anglosphere intelligence alliance that includes Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It is also very important to HM Armed Forces, particularly the Royal Navy and Royal Marines and their operations with the US Navy and US Marine Corps.
The Special Relationship will surely endure so that our great nations may trump any malign adversary. The UK’s safety and security depend on it more than many Britons realise, the protection of sea trade essential for our island nation’s survival and prosperity.
I will raise a glass tonight to our great ally, as I will in four months’ time, for America 250, the semiquincentennial on 4 July.