British minister suggests shift away from US

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown denied a shift in foreign policy away from the US after one of his ministers told an audience there that a country's strength depended on alliances not military might.

Washington has been watching the new government of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for signs of any policy change after years of close ties under his predecessor Tony Blair.

In a speech, International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said while Britain stood beside the US in fighting terrorism, isolationism did not work in an interdependent world.

"In the 20th century a country's might was too often measured in what they could destroy. In the 21st century, strength should be measured by what we can build together," said Mr Alexander said, in comments interpreted by British media as signalling a change in the British government's relationship with Washington. "We must form new alliances, based on these common values; ones not just to protect us from the world but ones which reach out to the world. A new alliance of opportunity," he said in a speech at the Council of Foreign Relations.

Mr Brown took over the premiership last month with promises of change to woo back voters after 10 years of his Labour Party's rule and in particular to draw a line under the unpopular Iraq war. Mr Blair's closeness to Washington was unpopular with many Britons.

Mr Alexander told BBC radio Britain's relationship with Washington was important, as part of a wider framework.

"Gordon Brown has made very clear that he regards a strong relationship with the US as being one of the fundamental bases of his foreign policy," he said.