Washington D.C. with the Shadow Foreign Secretary - February 2026
Eighty years after Sir Winston Churchill first spoke of the ‘special relationship’ between the United States and the United Kingdom in his epochal Sinews of Peace - or Iron Curtain - speech in 1946, the Coalition for Global Prosperity was delighted to take the Rt Hon Dame Priti Patel DBE MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, to Washington DC to mark the anniversary.
The United States and the United Kingdom are the closest of allies: while ripples in the transatlantic alliance need addressing, from regulatory and trade frictions to differing approaches to China, both will continue to work hand-in-hand to address shared challenges in the face of growing global volatility, the proliferation of ‘problems without passports’, and a coalescing authoritarian axis. At a key juncture for the special relationship, the delegation was an opportunity to strengthen the alliance and explore mutual security, prosperity and global leadership.
In Congress, meetings with Sen. Ted Cruz, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Sen. Rick Scott, Senate Committees on Foreign Relations and Armed Services, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Senate Committee on Armed Services, Rep. Craig Goldman, Co-Chairman of the Abraham Accords Caucus, and Rep. Brian Mast, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, reinforced the durability of the US-UK relationship and its extraordinary depth and breadth - spanning trade and investment, defence interoperability, intelligence cooperation, technological partnerships and academic ties, amongst others.
Similarly, throughout meetings with senior Administration officials, including the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Allison Hooker, Assistant Secretary of War, Joseph Jewell, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Jeremy Wiggins, it was clear that the immense global challenges both nations face in an increasingly dangerous and volatile world are best tackled together, in a concerted and strategic manner.
The delegation was also fortunate to meet with Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, and Richard Parker and Michele Sumilas from the US Global Leadership Coalition, to discuss the current development landscape, the Bank’s priorities, and the need for strong political leadership in an increasingly polarised world.
Roundtables at Atlantic Council and BritishAmerican Business offered fresh perspectives on Euro-Atlantic security and constraints on economic development alike, while a poignant meeting with Olga Stefanishyna, Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States, on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine reinforced the immediacy and gravity of the threat Russia poses to European security.
The visit culminated in a keynote speech by Dame Priti at the Hudson Institute, her first as Shadow Foreign Secretary, marking the 80th anniversary of the special relationship. Imbuing many of the conversations from the past few days, her powerful introduction resonated:
“Freedom”, as the great Ronald Reagan famously said, “is never more than one generation away from extinction. It has to be fought for and defended by each generation.”
And today, that responsibility falls to us all, as we are the generation that stands between Freedom surviving or falling.
With Western values of democracy and the rule of law under assault from multiple directions, we must reaffirm the enduring values and interests that unite us - and be forthright about what is dragging us down.
Only then will the torch of Freedom be forever bright and carried to the darkest corners of the world, giving new generations hope, peace and prosperity.”
