Launching the Ethical Foreign Policy was certainly easier than implementing it and there are many who would say that Labour failed to see this through. I would say that it was a noble but an unrealistic goal.

As far as the Conservative party is concerned, our approach to foreign affairs will be, as David Cameron has put it, both liberal and Conservative.

Liberal – because Britain must be open and engaged with the world, and play our full part in making that world a better place for the rest of humanity. We will support human rights and champion the cause of democracy and the rule of law at every opportunity.

But our policy will also be Conservative – hard-headed and practical, dealing with the world as it is and not as we wish it was.