Ian Proud

General Sir Gwyn Jenkins is stepping into the role of First Sea Lord at a difficult time, with the Royal Navy’s fleet in a sorry state. On 22 April, Carrier Strike Group 25 (CSG25) set sail on an eight-month publicity tour, leaving British waters sparsely defended. Keir Starmer posed on the flight deck of HMS The Prince of Wales, his battleship grey hair perfectly set like a middle-aged Ken doll. He said the CSG25 shows ‘the UK’s leadership on global issues and security and defence’. It really doesn’t. Britain could only field one of its two carriers, one destroyer, one frigate and one attack submarine. The Royal Navy also has insufficient logistics vessels to support the deployment, with no new solid store ships expected before the end of this decade.

Britain is increasingly seen as a bit-part player. That’s down both to our post-Brexit identity crisis and being gradually overtaken by emerging economies such as India and Brazil.  But it’s also because British diplomats don’t have the skills they need to advance Britain’s interests with purpose and credibility.  Take foreign languages. Almost three quarters of Britain’s ambassadors aren’t fluent in the language of the countries where they serve. In the Middle East, most diplomats don’t hit the expected standard in Arabic. In Moscow, one third can’t speak Russian and the picture is similar for Mandarin speakers across our vast diplomatic network in China.