国际英语新闻：British MPs call for rethink on "special relationship" with U.S.

LONDON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- An influential group of British members of Parliament (MPs) on Sunday called for a rethink of the so-called "special relationship" Britain has with the United States.

"The UK needs to adopt a more hard-headed political approach towards our relationship with the U.S. with a realistic sense of our own limits and our national interests," said Chairman of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Mike Gapes.

Gapes was speaking as his committee unveiled its report "Global Security: UK-US Relations."

Britain was too deferential and needed to learn to say "no" to the United States more often, he warned.

He went on to criticize the constant use of the phrase "special relationship" to describe UK-U.S. relations.

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