James Cleverly rebuffs Australian minister over UK colonialism remarks

He was responding to questions after a speech by the Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong, while on a visit to London this week in which she said Britain needed to reflect on its past.

Wong and the Australian defence minister, Richard Marles, had been meeting with Cleverly and the British defence secretary, Ben Wallace, in Portsmouth for an annual ministerial get-together in which the chief topic of conversation was the future structure of the Aukus plan to build a nuclear submarine.

The birth of the three-way pact was mired in controversy due to the secretive way in which the previous Australian government negotiated with Washington and London to exclude France, with which it had an existing submarine contract. China has since then been deeply hostile while it has been unclear how quickly the submarines can be built and the willingness of the US to transfer its nuclear technology to Australia.

He said it was incumbent on the UK to say it was seeking partnerships of equals, different but equal.

He said even if the Ukrainians were given jets, it would take time for them to be trained to fly them.