Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong claimed Britain must come to terms with its “uncomfortable” colonial past in Asia and the Pacific. Mr Cleverly pointed towards Rishi Sunak’s rise to Prime Minister and Suella Braverman becoming Home Secretary and his own appointment as Foreign Secretary as examples of the huge strides Britain has made.
Asked if Britain had done enough to confront the actions of the British Empire, Mr Cleverly said: “You’re asking the black foreign secretary of the United Kingdom?”
“The answer is yes. You’re looking at it. You’re talking to it.”
Ms Wong, who was born in Malaysia and came to Australia as a child, said during a speech on Tuesday that the British must confront past wrongdoing in order to find “more common ground” with the countries they once governed.
He said: “You’re talking to it. I mean, the bottom line is we have a prime minister of Asian heritage.
“We have a Home Secretary of Asian heritage, we have a Foreign Secretary of African heritage.
“We have fantastic working relationships with the countries that were formerly colonies.”
Mr Cleverly said the UK is forging strong ties with Commonwealth countries and states around the globe.
Britain’s top diplomat said: “We can be defined by our past, or we can set our sights on a really fantastic, optimistic future.”
“So we’re now part of a really close-knit friendship group by mutual consent called the Commonwealth which is a remarkable change in the evolution of the relationship and I think the amazing work that we have been doing and are destined to do now with Australia is a real indicator of that.
“Yes, of course, history matters. What matters more is the stuff we’re going to do in the future.”
Asked if other European nations need to address their histories, Mr Cleverly said: “There’s always a lot of difficult truths that you have to address and our collective parts.
“Ultimately we have a choice: we can be defined by our past, or we can set our sights on a really fantastic optimistic future. And what I have found as UK Foreign Secretary, dealing with countries around the globe is that they are really keen to work with us and focus on the opportunities of the future.”
Ms Wong said countries such as Britain must not remain “sheltered in narrower versions” of their pasts when it came to engaging in the region.
“Such stories can sometimes feel uncomfortable – for those whose stories they are, and for those who hear them,” she said in a speech.
In Australia, some commentators accused Ms Wong of “lecturing” the British with a speech that was “woke” and “rude and self-indulgent.”