An incoming Labour government will face a daunting array of foreign and defence policy challenges, many of which are beyond the ability of any one country to resolve. Willingness to engage in multilateral, cooperative approaches to common problems – and unstinting support for the UN charter – must be guiding principles.
Immediate challenges include the foreign and domestic ramifications of the wars in Ukraine and Palestine, and the prospect of a new rightwing US administration. If a re-elected Donald Trump broke with Europe and Nato and dissolved the “special relationship”, Britain could be dangerously isolated, considering it is already divorced from Europe.
Longer-term challenges include vexed efforts to tackle the climate crisis, food insecurity, mass migration and political instability; poverty, protectionism, and debt relief; the rise of China and similar authoritarian, anti-democratic regimes; the deteriorating global security situation; disrespect for international law and human rights; and AI and cyberterrorism.
Here are three priority policy areas where a Labour government could demonstrate global leadership and make a positive difference.
1. Phase out Trident
The proliferation of nuclear weapons poses an existential threat to humankind and is accelerating around the world. There are nine nuclear weapon states, ranked by total number of warheads: Russia, the US, China, France, the UK, Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea. In addition, Turkey, Germany, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and Belarus “host” nuclear bombs.
Other countries, for example Iran, Saudi Arabia and Japan, either have, or might quickly acquire, the ability to build nuclear weapons. Most nuclear weapon states are expanding or updating their arsenals. The development of smaller, low-yield “battlefield” nukes and drone delivery systems is raising the risk of nuclear warfare.
Labour should set an example by drastically lowering the total number of UK nuclear warheads in line with its obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. It should announce its intention to phase out Britain’s unaffordable, US-supervised Trident at-sea ballistic missile deterrent. The UK should join other Nato countries in developing a common European defensive nuclear shield while prioritising global disarmament.
2. Strengthen Britain’s soft power
Labour should launch a drive to maximise Britain’s ability to influence world affairs and international public opinion through the imaginative use of non-military soft power tools – a more effective form of defence than building sitting-duck aircraft carriers or firing off missiles at Houthis at America’s behest.
It should immediately reverse the cuts to the overseas aid and development budget imposed by Boris Johnson’s government in 2020 and restore the target spend to at least 0.7% of gross national income. Foreign aid saves and builds lives. It is an invaluable means of promoting British values and democratic standards.
Labour should make it easier for foreign nationals to study at British universities. Funding for the British Council’s worldwide work in education, cultural outreach and English language teaching should rise. Likewise, the BBC World Service should be cherished – and adequately resourced. BBC Arabic and BBC Persian are closing down. That’s plain crazy.
The 2020 merger of the Foreign Office and the Department for International Development was a destructive act that should be unpicked. UK diplomacy has suffered damaging cutbacks and appalling leadership in recent years. Labour should recruit a new generation of diplomats with an ambitious brief to boost UK interests and leverage, build international coalitions, and assist in conflict resolution.
Membership of the EU maximised Britain’s soft power through close association with 27 mostly likeminded countries. Labour must be candid about the huge damage done by Brexit, do everything possible to repair and strengthen UK-EU ties, and bury silly Tory ideas about Global Britain’s “tilt to Asia”.
3. Improve Iran relations and recognise Palestine
Unlike the US, Britain maintains full diplomatic relations with Iran and can draw on long-established institutional knowledge of the country. Labour should use this traditional engagement to restart the dialogue with Iran’s leadership that was fatally undermined by Trump.
Improved western relations with Tehran, arguably the leading regional power, are the key to a safer, less volatile Middle East – and to reducing Islamophobic and antisemitic spillovers in Britain. Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen are all countries where Iran wields significant influence. Less confrontational policies and careful diplomacy could deliver more productive relationships.
Resuming talks on limiting Iran’s nuclear arms-related capabilities in return for lifting sanctions would be a confidence-building start. Yet Labour’s larger aim should be to enlist Iran’s help in resolving the Israel-Gaza conflict and turning dreams of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state into reality.
A Labour government should immediately offer diplomatic recognition to the state of Palestine while pushing for meaningful democratic reform of the Palestinian Authority. It should increase UK financial support, including resumed funding of the UN’s aid agency in Gaza. Labour must tell Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, if it is still in office, that bilateral relations will suffer serious consequences if Israel continues to try to veto the two-state solution the world wants.
Simon Tisdall is the Observer’s foreign affairs commentator
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
