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In Brief: What Will Labour’s Victory in the United Kingdom Mean for the World?

July 10, 2024
In Brief: What Will Labour’s Victory in the United Kingdom Mean for the World?
In Brief: What Will Labour’s Victory in the United Kingdom Mean for the World?

In Brief: What Will Labour’s Victory in the United Kingdom Mean for the World?

Ian Bond, Emma Salisbury, Thibaud Harrois, and Jacob Parakilas
July 10, 2024
Last week, the United Kingdom’s Labour Party won a landslide victory in general elections, ending 14 years of Conservative Party rule in the country. We asked four experts to tell us more about how this victory might affect Britain’s foreign and security policy and its alliances with partners around the world.Read more below.Ian Bond Deputy Director The Centre for European ReformUpon his appointment, Foreign Secretary David Lammy proclaimed “a reset with Europe, on climate and with the global South.  And a gear-shift when it comes to delivering on European security, global security and British growth.” What might change?Labor says it wants a foreign and security partnership with the European Union — something foreseen in the 2019 European Union–United Kingdom political declaration but not pursued by the Conservatives. Most European Union countries would welcome closer cooperation. Lammy has called for a review of China policy, implying that he, like the European Union, sees China increasingly as a national security challenge. He has also promised “a more balanced position on Israel and Gaza,” but Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s first contacts with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas do not suggest dramatic steps, such as recognition of a Palestinian state.There will be policy continuity in many areas. Lammy has already visited Germany, Poland, and Sweden — priority partners even before the election. Defense Secretary John Healey has visited Odesa and announced further military aid for Ukraine. Lammy has cultivated pro-Donald Trump U.S. Republicans this year — underlining that the relationship with Washington remains central regardless of who is in the White House. So the first signs are that the new government will be more energetic than its predecessor, but not radical.Emma Salisbury Fellow The Council on GeostrategyForeign and defense policy issues were largely absent from the British election campaign. Labor’s stance on key topics such as NATO, the nuclear

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Last week, the United Kingdom’s Labour Party won a landslide victory in general elections, ending 14 years of Conservative Party rule in the country. We asked four experts to tell us more about how this victory might affect Britain’s foreign and security policy and its alliances with partners around the world.Read more below.Ian Bond Deputy Director The Centre for European ReformUpon his appointment, Foreign Secretary David Lammy proclaimed “a reset with Europe, on climate and with the global South.  And a gear-shift when it comes to delivering on European security, global security and British growth.” What might change?Labor says it wants a foreign

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