Reader TTS

Questions to the Conservative leadership candidates have so far largely focused on Brexit and domestic policy issues. But it seems likely that we will have left the European Union within a

few months, probably on October 31st. So we should not be too Eurocentric. The real question is: what would our new Prime Minister’s wider foreign policy be? When we leave the EU we will get

our foreign policy back. We have been hugely constrained by the need to go along with the common EU Foreign and Security Policy. Our talented diplomats have sometimes been successful in

influencing the EU in the right direction, but too much diplomatic effort has been diverted away from achieving our own policy aims. Success has too often been defined as moving EU policy a

little in the desired direction. A sensible EU position has in many cases not been possible because one or more EU states have been against it. For example, Chavista-supporting Greece has

ensured that no meaningful EU sanctions have been imposed on Venezuela since 17 individuals were sanctioned back in 2017. Rather than backing the firm US policy, Britain is left on the

side-lines doing little more than sending out anti-Maduro tweets. Incidentally, we are leaving the EU just in time to preserve any independence of our foreign policy, as the EU plans to

remove the veto of individual countries in this area. Brexit has been heralded as the rebirth of ‘Global Britain,’ as we break free from the parochial bonds of the EU and stride out onto the

world stage. There has been precious little sign of this so far under Mrs May’s somnolent government but there is still hope. Two prominent candidates, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, have

served as Foreign Secretary under Theresa May, so one might ask why they haven’t already developed a positive Conservative foreign policy. That would be an unfair question as they could

barely order a new packet of paper clips without explicit sign-off from Downing Street. But here are some foreign policy questions for our leadership candidates: 1. The EU has been setting

itself up as a rival to the US. One does not need to be a fan of Donald Trump to realise that the US position is often more worthy of support than that of the EU. Will you continue to keep

closely aligned to EU foreign policy or will you chart an independent course, more closely aligned to our traditional US ally when it is in our national interest? 2. Whose side will you

take, the US side or the Chinese side? In the competition between the two we must remember that one is a ruthless totalitarian police state and the other the leading western democracy and

our most important ally. 3. On Huawei in particular, would you allow it access to our telecommunications infrastructure despite the threat to both our own security and our

intelligence-sharing arrangements with key allies? 4. Will you return to the centuries-old British policy of seeking a balance of power in Europe, in particular by seeking to prevent the

emergence of a European super-state and of a European Army, which will undermine Nato? 5. What action will you take against German plans for a second natural gas pipeline across the Baltic

Sea that will bring gas from Russia to Germany, heightening German dependence on the Kremlin? 6. Will you return to the former Conservative policy of helping those suffering under Communism

to free themselves? Will you apply meaningful sanctions on the Maduro regime in Venezuela and go after the billions stolen by the Chavistas? Will you help the US impose strong sanctions on

Venezuelan oil exports, or will you follow the EU approach of doing next to nothing? 7. And in the same vein, will you continue with the current UK/EU policy of supporting Cuba by

encouraging investment into their bankrupt Communist economy, while seeking to frustrate the US sanctions designed to stop their support for Maduro? Or do you think the Cuban people deserve

freedom and democracy? 8. Our huge aid budget could be used to help achieve greater UK access to emerging markets while boosting prosperity in the developing world. How, in practical terms,

will you better use the aid budget to achieve national objectives post-Brexit? Do you intend to merge DFID back into to the FCO, and if so do you intend to integrate it fully or leave it as

a stand-alone department under a junior minister? 9. On defence will you commit to meeting the NATO two per cent of GDP spending target without the use of smoke and mirrors and to continue

increases beyond that? There will naturally be plenty of trivia in the leadership contest – about where they went to school, what “naughty things” they have done and so forth. There will

also a focus on immediate priorities and the “bread and butter” issues. But there’s a dangerous world out there. How our new Prime Minister will respond to those challenges merits scrutiny.