The visit to Papua New Guinea was one of Mr. Cleverly's 40 trips since his appointment last year. Photo: Simon Dawson/10 Downing Street
The Foreign Secretary is confronted by statements from colleagues that he is more interested in photo opportunities and visits to sun-soaked islands than representing Britain's «hard interests» and Rishi Sunak's priorities.
Several senior figures in Whitehall and on the Conservative bench have privately criticized James Cleverley for failing to impose a clearer vision on the Foreign Office in line with Mr. Sunak's focus on key policy areas such as growth and suppression of illegal migration.
An ally of Mr Cleverly insisted that the criticism «has no basis in fact» and is instead «based on a poor understanding of what is going on in the world.»
Government officials expressed disappointment that the ambassadors The UK in some countries seems to have focused more on local development than on direct UK interests such as trade and migration.
Several MPs and government officials were also concerned that the Foreign Office during Mr. Cleverley's tenure could not take a tougher stance against Iran, whose Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has yet to be declared a terrorist group, and China.
A second government spokesman said Mr. Cleverly did not wanted to deliver «complicated messages» to diplomats representing some of Britain's allies in cases where countries, for example, did not cooperate with Britain on specific issues. An ally of Mr. Cleverley vehemently denied the claim.
Earlier this month, Mr. Cleverley made an unusual public appeal to Mr. Sunak to keep him as Foreign Minister, «a position I absolutely adore.» He added: «If I get pulled out in the future, you'll see nail marks on the hardwood floor in my office.»
«Great game of batik!»
Mr. Cleverly's travels since the beginning of the year have included trips to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands in April, a trip to Japan for the G7 summit, and a seven-day tour of Jamaica, Colombia, Chile and Brazil in May focused on «climate, democracy, and links between our people.» Mr. Cleverley's visit to the Caribbean was the first visit by a foreign secretary since 2017.
Mr. Cleverly, appointed to the role by Liz Truss but retained by Mr. Sunak, wore the national dress during several recent visits, and photos and videos were then posted on his and Foreign Ministry social media accounts. One high-profile Tory said: «For him, this is a complete photo shoot.»
In March, the Foreign Ministry released photographs of Mr. Cleverley in traditional Kazakh clothing, shooting a bow and holding a falcon. His tour of the Caribbean and South America in May resulted in a beautifully filmed video of Mr. Cleverly cooking a Brazilian dish. On July 14, Mr. Cleverley tweeted pictures of himself wearing three different batik shirts while traveling to Jakarta to meet with representatives of the ASEAN group of countries. Here he made a direct reference to one of Mr. Sunak's five priorities, stating: «To grow our economies, we partner with dynamic nations that will shape the future of the next century.» A senior Foreign Ministry official responded to the tweet: «It's a great game of batik!»
Mr. Cleverly donned a traditional Kazakh clothes during your visit to the country. Photo: AP Photo
In May, Mr. Cleverly released a fake video in which he posed as a reporter interviewing members of the public about the coronation.
An ally of Mr Cleverley said critics of the foreign secretary appeared to be seizing on a small handful of the nearly 40 trips Mr Cleverley has made since his appointment last fall. Last week, he made visits to Qatar and Kuwait on defense and trade issues. Last year, he held talks with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama ahead of an agreement between the UK and Albania on illegal migration. He has also been to Ukraine twice.
An ally said: «A big part of James's job is to make arguments for voting in international forums on various issues, including against Russia.»
< p>Relationships with The countries of the Pacific and Central Asia have played a “critical role” in dealing with threats from China and Russia, they said, adding: “Whether it’s an ally who did something we don’t like, or an ally who who has not done something, he raises difficult questions, but continues to work without giving details of the meetings.
At a meeting with Chinese President Han Zheng in May, Mr Cleverly said that he «expressed the views of the UK on Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan.”
Source #10 said: “The Foreign Minister has shown excellent leadership among our allies, encouraging them to continue to support Ukraine in its fight to repel Russia's barbaric invasion.”
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