James Cleverly claims he banned 'lazy' phrase at Foreign Office - but old Tweets resurface

Candidates vying to succeed Rishi Sunak and become the next leader of the Conservative Party are doing everything they can to convince members and MPs that they have what it takes to challenge Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s government, except shadow home secretary James Cleverly’s latest attempt has been undermined by past comments.

After Starmer delivered a statement on Tuesday (October 1) evening in which he condemned Iran’s missile attacks on Israel and said he was “deeply concerned” about increasing violence in the Middle East, the Braintree MP claimed on Wednesday (October 2) he banned the use of that particular phrase when he was foreign secretary.

“It is lazy, meaningless and disguises a lack of action. The government shouldn’t be a spectator or commentator. We should say what we plan to do rather than how we feel,” he wrote on Twitter/X.

It’s not the first time Cleverly has voiced his frustration with the phrase as back in December 2022, he penned a piece for The Guardian in which he stressed “backing words with action is exactly the kind of diplomacy that I want to lead”.

He continued: “I hope you will not hear me utter the well-worn phrases: ‘I am concerned by...’, or ‘I am gravely concerned by...’ or, worst of all, ‘I am deeply concerned by...’, without also saying what I’m doing.

“As foreign secretary, I should not be telling you about my feelings; I should be telling you about my actions to protect and advance British interests and values.”

Then, in an interview with The House in September 2023, he confirmed he had banned the phrase from the Foreign Office and stressed he takes it “very, very seriously”.

“It’s not our job to be concerned; it’s our job to do stuff. So let’s not tell the world how we feel; let’s tell the world what we are doing. I take that mantra personally,” he said.

However, following Cleverly’s latest comments about how much he dislikes the two words, social media users pointed out he was perfectly fine with using them during his time as Middle East minister between February 2020 and February 2022:

Although this predates his time as foreign secretary, people have still questioned his use of the “lazy” and “meaningless” phrase back then.

A search of Parliament’s Hansard records between October 2019 and October 2024 brings up 14 instances of Cleverly using the phrase in the House of Commons, while the Tory used it a small number of times in tweets on X / Twitter, too.

Cleverly is up against shadow housing secretary Kemi Badenoch, ex-immigration minister Robert Jenrick and former security minister Tom Tugendhat in the Tory leadership contest, with the four candidates whittled down to the final two next week before party members decide on the winner.

The next Conservative Party leader is set to be announced on November 2.

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