Britain’s lack of presence at Munich security conference sparks concern among allies

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy “I am very glad to be here, I hope I can make up in quality what is lacking in quantity,” said Sir Mark Sedwill at a leading international security forum in which “global Britain” has been notable for a lack of senior ministers. Sir Mark, the national security adviser, was a last-minute addition to a miniscule UK team at the Munich Security Conference, a prestigious gathering which has been described as the “Davos for defence”. Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat speaker of the House of Representatives – part of the largest ever US delegation to the conference – said: “I hope it’s not an indication of their commitment to multilateralism.” Other senior political and economic leaders who had gathered in Munich included French president Emmanuel Macron, Mike Pompeo and Mark Esper, the US secretaries of state and defence respectively, and Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister. Has ‘Global Britain’ gone completely introvert?” Wolfgang Ischinger, formerly of the German foreign ministry and one of the conference organisers, tweeted: “Needless to say, as a former ambassador to the Court of St James, I am saddened by the absence of senior ministers of Her Majesty’s government at @MunSecConf this year.” Meanwhile, the European Union’s top diplomat said that governments within the bloc need to be willing to intervene in international crises or risk paralysis in their foreign policy.