Keir Starmer’s first month as prime minister will be a whirlwind of international diplomacy, including meetings with US President Joe Biden and European leaders.
His first step on the world stage will be in just a few days at the NATO 75th anniversary summit, to be held in Washington from next Tuesday to Thursday.
Starmer will then host a meeting of the European political community at Blenheim Palace, near Oxford in central England, on July 18, which is also expected to be attended by Emmanuel Macron of France and Olaf Scholz of Germany.
The Labour Party, out of power since 2010, has pledged a foreign policy of “progressive realism”, and said in the face of a more unstable world “this is not what we want”, said David Lammy, who is likely to become foreign minister.
The party has also pledged to “make Brexit a success” and seek “an ambitious” security deal with the EU.
Here’s how a Labour government could tackle the key international issues it faces.
– China –
Lammy told reporters this week that the Labour Party would conduct a “full audit” across all government departments about Britain’s relations with China to “set the direction and compass” of its China policy.
Starmer said last year that Britain needed to distance itself from China on issues such as trade, commerce and technology, while acknowledging the importance of cooperating on issues such as tackling climate change.
The challenge will be to balance UK trade and economic interests with security imperatives.
The matter could be further complicate by the possible return of Donald Trump to Washington after the US presidential election in November.
Trump will be expected to increase pressure on his allies to take a tougher stance toward Beijing.
– Israeli-Palestinian conflict –
The Labour Party says it is committed to recognising a Palestinian state, saying “this would contribute to a renewed peace process resulting in a two-state solution.”
But it has not set any deadline for doing so.
Other commitments include an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and an increase in the amount of aid to Gaza.
– Europe –
Starmer has promised to work with France’s right-wing National Rally (RN) party if it comes to power.
He said, “If we are elected I will work with any government in Europe and around the world… that to me is what serious government means.”
He said bilateral deals with France and agreements with the whole EU, from which Britain voted to exit in 2016, resulting in a messy divorce, were key to solving the issue of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.
Asked about RN leader Marine Le Pen’s preference for bilateral agreements over EU-wide pacts, Starmer said the two were not mutually exclusive.
He said existing bilateral agreements with France needed to be strengthened and improved, “particularly with regard to eliminating the gangs that carry on the sordid business of loading people onto boats.”
“But there are also EU measures,” he added. “The security agreement we have with the EU to tackle smuggling gangs is really important.”
– Ukraine –
Britain has been one of Kiev’s staunchest supporters, providing money, arms and military training to fend off a Russian invasion.
Labour have insisted they will continue to support Ukraine if they win, and Starmer is expected to reaffirm this message by meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in person soon.
Starmer has said a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin is “not an issue” at the moment and described him as “the aggressor in Ukraine”.
“The most important thing is to be clear that our support for Ukraine is a united front across this country,” he said.
– Defense expenditure –
A strategic defence review will be undertaken within the first year of government, to set out a path to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
