The shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, has proposed regular meetings between UK and European Union ministers, as part of a major reset of British foreign policy under a Labour government.
Lammy, who was attending a gathering of centre-left leaders in Montreal, Canada, with the Labour leader Keir Starmer, told the Observer it was high time the UK took up its place again, after Brexit, as a lead player in world affairs. “A UK that is isolated and missing is felt across the world. It is definitely the case that the international community want Britain back,” he said.
“There have always been two visions of Britain. Great Britain, outward looking, internationalist, connected. And Little England, which is unfortunately what is being pursued by Rishi Sunak.”
Last night, as Starmer used a speech at the meeting hosted by the Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau to say Labour would rebuild “the smouldering cinders of the bridges the Tories have burnt” in relations with other countries, Lammy said closer links with the EU were the number one goal.
“We think it is bizarre that the UK does not currently under this government have structured dialogue with the European Union in a constructive way. We want to approach the review of our trade arrangements in a very constructive manner, and we want to build on the partnership that we have seen on Ukraine. That is why we are proposing a new [UK/EU] security pact.”
Lammy stressed that a Labour government would not attempt to take Britain back into the EU single market or customs union but added that “we do think there is a lot we can do in rebuilding our relationships if we are in power. We don’t currently meet with the European Union to discuss mutual issues of concern, whether on a biannual basis or on a quarterly basis. At the moment there is nothing. It is all ad hoc. We have got to get back to structured dialogue. What it means [without it] is that we are not in the room.”
The EU currently has regular bilateral summits with other countries, including the US, China, Canada, Australia and Japan. It is understood that initial talks about creating regular UK/EU meetings have taken place, with Brussels reacting positively.
The comments by both Starmer and Lammy reflect a greater confidence at the top of the party to talk about relations between the UK and the EU than has been the case under Starmer’s leadership to date. Until now, there has been a fear that pro-Brexit Labour voters and the right-wing media would accuse Starmer of wanting to overturn the result of the 2016 referendum.
The shift of gear by Starmer and raising of his profile on the international stage has echoes of the efforts made by New Labour before it came to power in 1997 to court both Washington and the EU, as it sought to act as bridge between them. Tony Blair famously courted the Democrats, and in April 1996, more than a year before his first general election victory, was invited by President Bill Clinton to take part in a joint press conference at the White House.
Lammy and the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will join Starmer on Tuesday on a visit to Paris where the Labour leader will hold talks with Emmanuel Macron, including about his plans to tackle the problem of small boats crossing the channel.
Starmer indicated last week during a visit to Europol in The Hague that he could strike a deal with Brussels that would involve taking a quota of asylum seekers who arrive in the EU in exchange for the ability to return people who cross the Channel.
Then Lammy will travel to Washington with the shadow defence secretary, John Healey, later next week for meetings with US Democrat and Republican politicians and officials. Lammy said they would be stressing the UK’s solidarity with Ukraine amid signs of waning public support in the US for the war against Russia.
Lammy said it was “unbelievable” that Sunak had decided to become the first British prime minister in a decade not to attend the UN general assembly in New York this week. The shadow international development secretary, Lisa Nandy, will be representing the Labour party.
In his speech in Montreal last night, Starmer challenged Sunak to face down those Conservative MPs who want Britain to pull out of the European convention on human rights, saying Sunak’s “equivocation” was damaging Britain’s global influence and preventing the country from leading on the world stage.
“Their drum beat of threats to pull out of the ECHR is nothing more than a desperate attempt by a failing government to whip up division in order to cling to power, with the consequences for Britain’s security and prosperity an afterthought,” he said.
Lammy said Sunak had been isolated at the G20 last weekend when the United States, the EU and India joined in signing an agreement on an India-Middle East economic corridor at the G20, with the UK prime minister not present.
