Why Britain must stop turning a blind eye to oppression

A critique of Liz Truss’s foreign policy ambitions through the lens of media freedoms

The World Today Updated 30 June 2022 3 minute READ

William Horsley

Co-founder and International Director, Centre for Freedom of the Media, University of Sheffield

Setting out her ambitious vision for Britain’s foreign policy in a speech at Chatham House on December 8, Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, began with a resounding call for bold leadership and an end to what she called the free world’s ‘age of introspection’. 

As a respected diplomatic player and science and tech superpower, she said, the United Kingdom would be the natural leader of a global ‘network of liberty’ made up of free enterprise democracies. It would also be ‘unashamedly commercial’ in promoting the trade and other national interests of Global Britain.  

Two days later, two journalists – Dmitry Muratov from Russia and Maria Ressa from the Philippines – received the Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo for their courageous fight to defend freedom of expression, which was described as a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.

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