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LONDON — The U.K.’s Labour Party wants to do “much more in partnership with the EU” if it wins the next election — but it’s not so bothered about the government’s big “Indo-Pacific tilt.”
In a document setting out the opposition party’s foreign policy focus in detail for the first time, Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “I believe there is much more that we can do with Europe — in partnership with the EU and bilaterally.”
But he suggested he would move away from the current Conservative government’s much-vaunted “Indo-Pacific tilt,” which focuses on building closer ties with countries in that region.
The Indo-Pacific is mentioned just four times in the new pamphlet issued by the Fabian Society, a left-wing think tank. It says the government’s “tilt” is “more rhetoric than substance” and argues it “cannot come at the cost of our security commitments in Europe or mean that we can safely ignore our own neighbourhood.”
The comments come after similar noises from the party’s shadow defense secretary in a POLITICO interview. Current U.K. polling suggests Labour is on course to form the next U.K. government after more than a decade in opposition.
The 14,000-word document — published on Monday night — also accuses the Tories of having “undermined the U.K.’s relationships around the world, most of all in Europe, leaving us diplomatically disconnected” and of “using Europe as a punching bag for domestic political gain.”
Labour has ruled out rejoining the EU single market or customs union post Brexit, and said it will not seek a return to freedom of movement. But the pamphlet suggests pursuing closer trade ties with the EU and security partnerships with European countries, particularly France and Germany.
Business as usual on China
Labour also appears to pitch continuity on relations with China, which the opposition says poses “multifaceted challenges” on the world stage.
Lammy said that Labour would “prioritise national security” above all else and “stand firm on human rights” while also recognizing “it is important that the U.K. engages with China where it is in our interests to do so — whether on climate change, trade or global health.”
This largely matches the approach Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government is taking. Since becoming prime minister in October, Sunak has rowed back from the significantly more hawkish language he used about China when running for leader.
On the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lammy said that Labour’s support for Kyiv “will remain until it prevails” and that the party would remain “steadfastly committed to … the strength of the NATO alliance.”
Policy proposals
In the document, Lammy commits to creating a new “threats cell” to disrupt hostile actors, and to creating a supply chain working group within the G7 to identify long-term risks.
Labour is also promising to give climate change a more central role in foreign policy, creating a “clean power alliance” of countries committed to 100 percent clean power by 2030 and pushing to make climate action the fourth pillar of the United Nations.
It would also lobby for the U.K. to be exempted from the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, which offers U.S. firms billions in subsidies and tax credits to try to incentivize the take-up of electric vehicles and build up green infrastructure. European and British carmakers are concerned about the impact on their own industries.
