Imran Ahmad Khan MP - the need for a new Foreign Affairs APPG

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The MP for Wakefield, Imran Ahmad Khan, has called for the creation of a new APPG for Foreign Affairs. He writes on his website:

The last few years have been awash with the UK’s diplomatic failures and foreign policy blunders. Appreciate how in the Brexit negotiations with EU officials, the UK immediately ceded ground once talks began, resulting in an incredibly unpopular deal which was later renegotiated. After three years, we have finally left the European Union, and in doing so, have gained a unique opportunity to redefine and reshape our foreign policy, strategic objectives, and ultimately, the United Kingdom’s place in the world. 

Policy-makers stand at a critical juncture as to how best redefine our foreign policy, and decide upon a new strategy through which the United Kingdom can capture its foreign policy objectives. This is far more attractive than continuing to maintain a confused and often counterproductive foreign policy that weakened our image in the eyes of the rest of the world.  

The Government under Prime Minister Boris Johnson has recognised this shortcoming in policy, and has implemented measures that will help achieve his Global Britain vision. In the recent weeks, the Department of International Development and Foreign Office merged into the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, ensuring a strategic approach is adopted in international development so that objectives such as bolstering national security are also considered. The Secretary of State for International Trade has also opened trade negotiations with a number of countries across the world, previously not possible when part of the EU, including the United States, Japan and New Zealand. 

This reassessment of foreign policy priorities will be accompanied with significant benefits to our international standing. The United Kingdom is a bastion of freedom, tolerance, pluralism and democratic accountability. Our Parliament, legal system and fundamental values has been copied across the world. Students from across the world travel to our shores to learn at our prestigious universities, and many others come here to build their lives. Our cultural wealth, financial and legal systems, and high-quality produce and services make us an esteemed nation, one that is regarded as an invaluable ally and friend to many and a great trading partner. The UK has much to offer. 

It is precisely now that Parliamentarians across the chamber must follow suit and carefully analyse and evaluate what Global Britain entails, what our post-Brexit foreign objectives are, and how best to achieve them. It is with these thoughts in mind that I am delighted to announce my chairmanship of the new Foreign Affairs All-Party-Parliamentary-Group (APPG), which will seek to answer these questions through reasoned methods and robust analysis. 

This newly reformed APPG will be based on a few core tenets, which include; Britain is special, and its foreign policy should be distinct to reflect our status. Our foreign policy ought to be the embodiment of our fundamental values, love of democracy, freedom, accountability and individual liberties, should express the economic, commercial and security interests of the UK. In approaching our foreign policy, we need to adopt a long-term, holistic approach, rather than the short-sighted reactive policies that have defined our foreign policy for the last few years. These principles will define the actions, perspectives and objectives of the Foreign Affairs APPG, which will seek to learn and analyse the UK’s relations with other nations and how best to achieve ‘Global Britain’ through extensive research, meeting with foreign parliamentarians and dignitaries and roundtable discussions. Through this, we hope to educate fellow colleagues in Parliament, government departments and the wider UK, and raise awareness of various issues and topics regarding foreign affairs. 

As Her Majesty’s Government becomes accustomed to its newfound freedom from the European Union, the Foreign Affairs APPG, and all its members will closely examine Britain's place in the world, and strive to educate, raise awareness and open dialogue in areas surrounding foreign affairs and achieving ‘Global Britain’.