Ed Miliband has said Britain’s future lies in a “stronger and deeper” partnership with the EU as he called on the government to approach foreign policy as “proud Europeans”.
The foreign secretary told the Labour conference on Monday that Britain should grow closer to the bloc to secure its defensive and economic future.
It comes days after prime minister Andy Burnham has promised a “new direction” for Britain after a decade since Brexit, strongly hinting he is willing to rethink the settlement with the EU.
“This is our continent, and if there is one lesson that I have seen demonstrated to me again and again in this job, it is this: Europe is not just our geography, but so much more,” he said.
“It is how we pursue our values from climate to the Middle East. It’s how we pursue our interests from trade to defence. It’s where we build and protect our alliances, so it is not simply Britain acting alone, but Britain with others.
“And on economics, on defence, on security, I say to this conference: our future lies in a stronger, deeper partnership with the European Union.”
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Last week, Mr Burnham failed to rule out putting rejoin in the next election manifesto.
“We have had a decade since Brexit, and it has been a decade of too much drift and too much division. We need to draw a line on that,” Mr Burnham told supporters at the M&S Arena at the start of the Labour conference.
“We need to set out a new direction for the country and I will set that out on Tuesday. From that comes the hope. People able to have hope again that things will improve, that life will get better, and it will.”
Former Labour PM Sir Tony Blair has also told Mr Burnham that Britain should commit to re-entering the EU within the next 10 years, calling for a “new approach” to post-Brexit ties.
A series of economic data reports has continued to reveal the ongoing harms of Brexit including the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) showing a loss of £6.5bn a year in exports through a lack of mutual recognition with the EU.
Tech titans will not stand in the way of the UK Government’s bid to manage artificial intelligence, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said, as he warned “we cannot leave it to corporations to put in place the guardrails to serve the public interest”.
Also at the Labour conference, Mr Miliband also addressed concerns around AI, saying that “guardrails” around the tech should not be left to the corporations.
He said: “The technological progress offered by AI, as we see in our daily lives, is inspiring. But the threat it poses, according to its own inventors, is daunting.
“Now, some are calling for us to act, but other tech companies are saying we should leave it all to them. But friends, the lesson of history is that we cannot leave it to corporations to put in place the guardrails to serve the public interest.
“It is neither their purpose nor their motive. Theirs is to maximise profit. We cannot and will not allow that to come at the expense of our children or indeed humanity.
“That’s why, as part of our G20 presidency next year, this country will lead the efforts to manage AI so we keep our country and our world safe.
“And I say, no tech titan should stand in our way. And as we think about our role in the world, we will never be silent about injustice and suffering.”
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