In a speech broadcast on Facebook Live, the development secretary laid out her vision for humanitarian Britain, the ‘cradle of democracy’

Name: Penny Mordaunt.

Age: 45.

Appearance: Goddess. Armed with trident and shield. Sports a Corinthian helmet.

Come again? Isn’t she the international development secretary? She is indeed. But she’s also a self-confessed champion of “British self-determination” and defender of national values, including freedom, equality, independence and democracy.

And we know this how? Because she told us so, in a speech at London’s Wellcome Collection that was broadcast live on Facebook on Thursday morning.

Facebook? How very modern. So what else did she say? Well, for starters, shortly after reminding her audience that she voted for Brexit, she said we’re “determined to be a great global nation”.

Like the bit in Love Actually where Hugh Grant’s PM says “we may be a small country, but we are a great one”? Just so. But whereas Hugh conjured images of Britain as the country of Shakespeare, Harry Potter and David Beckham’s right foot (well, it was 2003), Mordaunt celebrated the nation as the home of Live Aid. Expanding on the aid theme, she emphasised that we’re “a global power, as well as a European one”, a land of selfless people who assist their neighbours at home and abroad because our nation is the “cradle for democracy”.

Penny Mordaunt hails UK aid as a shield against crime, poverty and terrorism Read more

Surely that was Ancient Greece? Details, details. The important thing to remember is we’re living in the age of a Global Britain that, far from retreating within itself, actively wants to engage with the wider world. To illustrate which, Mordaunt alluded to the values of two US presidents, noted for their enthusiastic engagement with global affairs.



Er, OK. Which ones? First, to show how the British people believe in “we” rather than “they”, she plucked a line from JFK on how we all breathe the same air and cherish our children’s future. She then went on to evoke the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt’s foreign policy, reflecting that “we can only talk softly if we carry a big stick”.

Well, you can’t beat a bit of gunboat diplomacy. You can if you’re wielding a big stick.

Do say: “Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves!”

Don’t say: “So tell me how we’re going to meet the sustainable development goals again?”