Mr Iain Duncan Smith placed Britain's Conservatives firmly on America's side yesterday as he offered alliance leaders a virtual blank cheque in the war against international terrorism.
In his first big speech to the Conservative conference as leader, Mr Duncan Smith maintained bipartisan support for the British Government and the ongoing allied assault on Afghanistan's Taliban regime.
However, the Tory leader did so with no direct reference to the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair.
Likewise, without naming him, Mr Duncan Smith launched a fierce broadside at Mr Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, interpreting his opposition to "blank cheques" for America as a proposal that Britain position herself instead "to limit, to cavil and to carp".
In the process Mr Duncan Smith signalled the possible future faultlines in the British political consensus - over NATO and the "European army", American missile defence proposals, Israel and the Middle East peace process, civil liberties and the Human Rights Act, and the possible extension of military action against other states believed to sponsor international terrorists.
In a key passage, the Tory leader declared: "International coalitions have their place and international approval is useful too. But our mission should shape the coalition, not the other way around. Diplomacy must be for a purpose and our purpose is to dismantle the apparatus of terror." Confirming his own pro-American credentials, Mr Duncan Smith was fiercely critical of Mr Kennedy.
"There are those who say we must not give America blank cheques, that we must speak to them as candid friends, that we must position ourselves to limit, to cavil and to carp," he said. Then he demanded: "I have to ask what jaundiced view of America animates such people. The response of President Bush and the American people to a grievous assault has been dignified, restrained and measured. Who are these people to patronise a great nation in its grief?" On the Middle East, Mr Duncan Smith said some had suggested that "a changed approach to a troubled region or a review of American foreign policy would deflect the terrorists' wrath". But he wondered if they understood the nature of the threat: "Two years ago the terrorists responsible for the atrocities in America were planning their massacres. At that time hopes for a settlement in the Middle East were high. And America was the sponsor of that process. The terrorists did not target a policy but a people." Affirming belief in NATO, Mr Duncan Smith took a side-swipe at Mr Blair, describing plans for a European army as "dangerous", adding: "We must never allow political ambitions to stand in the way of our national defence." And in paying tribute to the services now in action, he also appeared to offer Mr Blair a coded warning about future conduct in the war. "We owe our armed forces a debt we can never repay," he said. "But there is one thing we can do. We can show a clarity, a direction and a singleness of purpose which will not diminish over time."