LONDON (Reuters) - A second minister in Prime Minister Gordon Brown's new government has hinted at an apparent shift in foreign policy, predicting that London and Washington would not be "joined at the hip" under the new premier.
Brown denied on Friday any policy change after International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said in Washington that while Britain stood beside the United States in fighting terrorism, isolationism did not work in an interdependent world.
Foreign Office Minister Mark Malloch Brown followed up by insisting that Britain had to nurture a wider range of allies.
"You need to build coalitions which are lateral, which go beyond the bilateral blinkers of the normal partners," the former deputy secretary general of the United Nations told the Daily Telegraph.
Brown became premier last month, promising change in a bid to woo back voters after 10 years of Labour Party rule under Tony Blair and to draw a line under the Iraq war. Blair's closeness to Washington was unpopular with many Britons.
The change of premier has prompted speculation that Britain might accelerate troop withdrawals from Iraq. Britain has been gradually reducing numbers in Iraq and now has about 5,500 troops in the south......
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