Stable UK will deepen relations with South-east Asia, says British foreign minister
Source: The Straits Times
VIENTIANE – Britain’s new Labour government wants to reset its leadership on tackling the climate crisis and will capitalise on the country’s new-found stability to deepen its relationships with Singapore and the wider region, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said.
In an interview with The Straits Times in Vientiane before joining the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meetings on July 26, he said: “We went into the (July 4) election absolutely committed to reconnecting the United Kingdom.”
Labour went on to win 411 out of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, roundly defeating a Conservative government that had overseen the exit of Britain from the European Union and has changed prime ministers four times in the past eight years.
“We have come out of a period now, I think, where we had a lot of prime ministers, a lot of foreign secretaries. We had instability in the UK,” he said. The election results represent “a period of stability and certainty for the UK”.
“Singapore will find our government very outward-looking and very determined to deepen our relations, not just with Singapore but across the region, with countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam as well,” he pledged.
After leaving the EU in 2020, Britain sought to widen global relationships, including in South-east Asia. In 2021, it became a dialogue partner of Asean. It also applied to join the 11-member Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in February 2021, and formally signed the trade pact in 2023.
But Mr Lammy, in an April 2024 article, accused the then Conservative government of turning inward, of leading the country to leave the EU without a clear plan and squandering Britain’s climate leadership.
As shadow foreign secretary then, he advocated in the same article “progressive realist” foreign policy. This involves using fact-based, clear-eyed means to pursue “just goals” such as countering climate change, defending democracy and global economic development.
Low public and business investments, as well as Brexit trade barriers, have held back Britain’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic compared with most of its peers in the Group of Seven economies.
Asked whether Labour will be too focused on domestic recovery to focus on foreign policy, Mr Lammy said: “I think that’s to confuse the nature of the domestic challenges that we face. If you think about the low growth that we’ve seen in the British economy, much of it’s been triggered by the war in Ukraine. If you look at the challenges that we face on climate, it connects us to the global community.”
Britain’s fortunes are tied to that of the world, including South-east Asia, he pointed out.
“This region is rapidly growing. If it were a bloc, it would be the fourth-biggest trading bloc for the United Kingdom. It represents, over this next period, the highest growth prospects in the global community.”
Britain’s foreign policy in South-east Asia would see “significant continuity”, with a focus on growing trade, he said.
He highlighted a new UK-Asean fund to support countries worst affected by the climate crisis worth up to £40 million (S$69 million), and a new £25 million partnership with Asean to tackle pressing health challenges as examples of Britain’s tangible commitments to the region. “We are committed to being part of a green energy super alliance of countries,” he said.
The Conservative government was heavily criticised for rolling back its climate commitments, including granting new licences for North Sea oil and gas exploration.
Labour has pledged to make Britain a “clean energy superpower” in a way that will lower bills, create jobs and accelerate the use of renewable energy. Since winning the election, it has lifted a ban on onshore wind power projects and plans to ramp up spending on green projects.
On the turmoil triggered in Myanmar by the 2021 military coup, he said that Britain had committed £150 million worth of humanitarian aid so far. “I will use all endeavours I can diplomatically to alleviate that situation,” he said.
British ties with Singapore, meanwhile, are particularly strong and will grow given longstanding cooperation and robust trade links with the Republic and the region. Bilateral trade constitutes 40 per cent of Britain’s trade with South-east Asia.
“Singapore is a country that comes up frequently in our discussions,” he said. “We find – across the political divide in Britain – areas of excellence when often looking at the models that we see in Singapore.”