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Tugendhat: Miliband thought it right to shake hands with Iranian minister as Tehran planned UK attack
Shadow foreign secretary also claims 'many in the Foreign Office have acted as though they were an international NGO'
The shadow foreign secretary Tom Tugendhat has strongly criticised Ed Miliband claiming he shook hands with the Iranian foreign minister when Tehran was “planning to attack the United Kingdom. “
Speaking at the Conservative Party conference, the former security minister said accused Iran of “spreading fear and hatred around the world.”
He then added:”“We’ve got Ed Miliband. We have a Foreign Secretary who thinks that the right thing to do is to shake hands with the Iranian foreign minister at the same time as the Iranian government is planning to attack the United Kingdom.
“As Conservatives, we think that’s wrong.”
Miliband received flack after meeting Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting last month, where he was pictured shaking hands with him.
Tugendhat also criticised elements within the Foreign Office for behaving “as though they were an international NGO (non-governmental organisation).”
Speaking at the Conservative Party conference, the former security minister said, “For too long our foreign policy has been divorced from domestic policy.”
He added:”Iran, as we saw only the other day, is spreading fear and hatred around the world, including here at home.”
Tugendhat also named Russia and China, arguing, “These nations are all abusing the international structures that we built. The rules that we wrote are being twisted against us by those who wish to do us harm.”
He went on to say, “For too long, many in the Foreign Office have acted as though they were an international NGO. They’ve forgotten that the treaties are there to make Britain stronger, not weaker, and that the job of the King’s representatives is to protect and defend the King’s realm. In recent years, we’ve tied ourselves in knots—bowing to process instead of following justice.”
Addressing criticism that the Conservatives are abandoning human rights, Tugendhat was emphatic: “That is absolute rubbish. Let’s be absolutely clear – we are not isolationists.
“We believe in working together, but we remember – and we’re the only party who does – that this is about putting Britain first and deciding what’s best by seeing what actually works. British law defends our liberties more completely than any other legal system. And we remember a very important fact: the judge matters as much as the court.”
He concluded, “It is ridiculous to allow Chinese and Russian officials to determine our sovereignty. They’ve been absolutely clear: they’re not looking at the law, but at the politics.”
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