UK MPs call time on Churchill's ' special relationship' with US description

London, Mar.28 (ANI): Over 60 years after former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill first described Britain's alliance with the United States as a 'special relationship, the country's MPs have finally said it is time to end the use of such phrases.

According to The Mirror, the cross-party Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said that the well-worn phrase no longer accurately characterised the modern relationship between the two countries and should be dropped.

While the committee stressed Britain remained close to America, it said it was important to recognise it was just one a series of relationships the US had with key partners and allies.

They said that the British Government should be "less deferential" towards the Americans and take a more realistic view of the relationship.

"The use of the phrase 'the special relationship' in its historical sense, to describe the totality of the ever-evolving UK-US relationship, is potentially misleading, and we recommend that its use should be avoided," the committee said.

"Overuse of the phrase serves simultaneously to de-value its meaning and to raise unrealistic expectations about the benefits the relationship can deliver to the UK," it added.

The recommendation proved controversial, with five members of the committee - three Labour and two Tories - voting unsuccessfully for it to be dropped.

When Churchill first used the expression in the aftermath of the Second World War, he was inspired both by the shared struggle against Nazi Germany and the looming Cold War confrontation with the Soviet Union.

However, the committee said in the eyes of the rest of the world, the relationship was now more likely to be defined by what was seen to be Britain's support for President George Bush over the raq War. (ANI)