British Member of European Parliament: Barack Obama is not the leader of the free world

British Member of European Parliament Daniel Hannan isn’t afraid to say it: Barack Obama is not the leader of the free world.

The conservative lawmaker made the surprising statement in an interview with Blaze Books about his newly released work, "Inventing Freedom: How the English-Speaking Peoples Made the Modern World". In the book, Hannan makes the case that Anglosphere values and institutions such as individual liberty, religious freedom, representative government and property rights are exceptional and taken together represent a system superior to those of all other cultures.

“I’d have to say that we’re [the U.K.] in worse shape – although we are now pulling back, while you, dear cousins, hurry to overtake us,” he said in response to a question on the state of the U.S. “Frankly, though, neither the U.S. nor the U.K. is an especially good advertisement for Anglosphere values these days. Canadians are doing better than either of us, Australians better yet. Their prime ministers, Stephen Harper and Tony Abbott, are the true leaders of the free world.” [emphasis added]

Daniel Hannan addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2012. (Image Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Hannan’s remarks come in the wake of the recent round of Iranian nuclear negotiations, in which the French rose up and initially thwarted American-led efforts to ease sanctions on Iran, only for the U.S. to ultimately capitulate to Iranian demands in separate talks. In recent years America has also fallen precipitously in the Index of Economic Freedom Rankings to 10th, behind states including Mauritius and Denmark, while borrowing in such excessive quantities that it is now the largest debtor in world history, prompting unprecedented credit rating downgrades.

That wasn’t all Hannan addressed, however. He also discussed topics ranging from President Obama’s comments on American exceptionalism, to the little-known origins of the Gettysburg Address, and his perspective on the fate of welfare states of the Western world.

Be sure to check out those thoughts and more in the full interview, as well as our review of Inventing Freedom.