David Miliband gave a rousing defence of Britain’s special relationship with America yesterday, vowing to uphold what he called this country’s “single most important” alliance.

Days after government ministers hinted that Gordon Brown may distance himself from Washington, the Foreign Secretary used his first important foreign policy speech to defend staunchly Britain’s support for President Bush.

“If we want Britain to be a global hub we need a strong relationship with the leading global power,” he said in a speech at Chatham House, the foreign policy think-tank in London. “The US is our single most important bilateral partnership, yes because of shared values, but also because of political reality.”

Mr Miliband said that because of America’s size it had the capacity to do more good than any country in the world, from climate change to the search for peace in the Middle East.

He made it clear that Britain’s bilateral relationship with America could never be replaced by its ties with the European Union, which he described as an “asset” for economic cooperation, police work and joint foreign policy. He said that the EU should set the fight against climate change as its next big goal.

The alliance with the US was one that would grow and deepen over time. Mr Miliband predicted that over the next two decades, with the growing strength of China and India, the bilateral relationship with America would become “more, not less, important”.

The Bush Administration will also be heartened by his remarks on Iraq, although the Foreign Secretary made only one reference to what is arguably the most contentious foreign policy issue facing Mr Brown’s Government. He said that Britain would continue to support the Iraqi authorities and the Iraqi people. He made no mention of plans to withdraw the 5,500 British troops still deployed in the south.

The strong commitment to the transatlantic partnership was aimed partly at silencing critics within Labour ranks, who have raised concerns in Washington that the Brown Government will cool ties with the Bush Administration.

Unlike some of his predecessors, who pledged that Britain would pursue an “ethical” foreign policy, Mr Miliband appeared to set out a far more pragmatic mission.

“Our objective is not domination,” he said. “It is not to force others to live as we do. In a world as diverse and complex as ours, it is to establish, on however thin a basis, a set of rights and responsibilities by which we can live together in all our complexity and diversity.”

He slimmed down Britain’s ten main foreign policy objectives to three: fighting extremism, climate change and a more effective EU.

Mr Miliband’s speech will be well received by the Bush Administration. Yesterday Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, also sought to play down talk of a split between London and Washington.

“Oh no, good grief no,” she said in response to a question on Sky News. “Britain and the United States have a deep and special relationship . . . The foundations of US-British relations couldn’t be stronger.”

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