Howard 'distressed' Trump, Clinton ignoring TPP

Wednesday, 2 Nov 2016 09:50:21 | Lisa Millar

Former Australian prime minister John Howard gestures during a press conference for his reaction to the release of the Chilcot Inquiry report in the UK at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices in Sydney, July 7, 2016. (AAP: David Moir)

Former prime minister John Howard has criticised both US presidential candidates for turning away from free trade deals.

Mr Howard was speaking at an awards dinner at the National Gallery in London where he was honoured by the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe.

They described him as the greatest living conservative.

He praised what globalisation had achieved, but said he was disturbed by both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton's approach to trade.

"It distresses me immensely that both the candidates in the United States appear to have turned their backs on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, something that would involve the economies of 60 per cent of the world," he said.

He said the US had always been the standard bearer when it came to trade expansion and trade growth.

"We should never lose sight of what globalisation and competitive capitalism has done for the poor of the world," he said.

Photo: The former prime minister addressed guests at the awards dinner held in London. (ABC News: Niall Lenihan)

In February, Mr Howard said he trembled at the thought of Mr Trump becoming the president, but he understood why voters were attracted to him.

He told Sky TV Mr Trump was "doing well because he's saying things that a lot of people think should be said but the current political class aren't willing to say".

"In part, his success is emblematic of people's frustration with political correctness," Mr Howard said at the time.

"What people like is he seems to call it as it is."

Mr Howard again criticised creeping political correctness in his speech in London and launched a defence of cartoonist Bill Leak over his cartoon published in the Australian almost three months ago.

The cartoon featured an Aboriginal father being confronted by a police officer about taking responsibility for his son.

"It was a brilliant perspective cartoon that made the point," he said.