Rules-based International Order

Lord Gascoigne Excerpts

Thursday 16th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Gascoigne (Con)]

Noble Lords have rightly highlighted the threats around the world, and perhaps, out of this global instability, there is more yet to come. But I want to try and change the tune of the debate. Rather than focus on the negatives of the world right now, I will focus on the positives: that out of this darkness, there is still good, that all hope is not lost and that there is enormous opportunity.

I had the privilege to work as a special adviser to the Foreign Secretary for two years, and I saw first-hand a number of hard-working civil servants, here and around the world, furthering this country and our aims. I also saw how little old Blighty is enormously regarded and how we open doors—and that is, as some say, “despite Brexit”.

I say to some noble Lords that I do not agree that the last Conservative Government were absent from the world. I will give one example of many, Ukraine, long before the war, building the coalition and our continued support. But there is always more to do around the world, and Brexit was never an inversion or a retreat but, in my view, a chance to engage more intensely around the world and with individual countries, some of which may even fall within the EU.

In today’s world, we need to be nimble and bold. There are three areas I would like to talk about which seek to build on our strengths as a country. The first is the Commonwealth. With almost a third of the global population, 60% of whom are under 30, some of the oldest and biggest democracies, and a combined GDP or over $14 billion, with education and legal systems that we share and complement, we need to recognise the enormous wealth and scale of opportunity in the Commonwealth. It is ready-made for so much, not least on trade—crucially, trade deals that push exports, especially for British farmers, rather than the easier, cheaper imports which undercut them. There was talk about us being close to a trade deal with India. Can the Minister update us on that? Are there any other deals being considered with the wider Commonwealth family?

It was a genuine pleasure to hear the contribution of my noble friend Lord Ahmad earlier. I am reminded of the times we worked very closely on many great schemes, not least the Commonwealth summit in 2018. I think we would both agree that that was a very successful summit, with some great people behind it. We achieved much at that summit, not least on the rights of women and girls, with our campaign to deliver 12 years of quality education for girls around the world. That was something I worked on and care about, and I am pleased to say that it was agreed across the Commonwealth.

All this takes enormous effort and activity, day in, day out, at all levels and from all of government. As the noble Lord, Lord Balfe, noted, not everyone was present at the most recent CHOGM summit, and, sadly, some happened to be with Putin. What effort are His Majesty’s Government going to put in, beyond and more regularly than the CHOGM summit, to strengthen ties with our Commonwealth partners?

Secondly, as we have said, in just a few days America will welcome in its next democratically elected President. We should all welcome and congratulate President Trump on his win. I pay tribute to the outgoing ambassador, Karen Pierce, who I have previously worked with very closely. In her typically subtle yet determined way, she has executed her duties diligently, courting the American world for years, and has built strong relations with the new Administration. I wish our outgoing colleague, the noble Lord, Lord Mandelson, well. I have long believed that, where required, political appointees are good. We need personalities in foreign affairs; people who are able to understand politics more generally and who can be blunt and strike deals.

It was one of the greatest privileges of my entire life to go to America with the then Prime Minister and join his meeting with President Trump. It goes without saying how much he is an Anglophile and a man who means business. With this new President we should be embracing this new America. We should be his number one port of call whenever he thinks of an ally. We should be careful and conscious of some of the language used in this discussion. This country has worked with President Trump before. He achieved great things in his first term around making states pay more for NATO, the Abraham accords, dealing with “rocket man” and tackling Iran, and, as has been said, he is already having an impact in the Middle East.

We should be in no doubt that America is still the number one country in the world, economically and militarily. Deals and agreements are there to be done, not least with the exponential growth of AI and technology, and in security, where we share direct interests, as with AUKUS. This is something which my noble friend Lord Hannan of Kingsclere talked about recently when he advocated for strengthening the ties of the Anglosphere democracies based on and building on Five Eyes.

My third point is on relevance. I used to challenge the then Foreign Secretary to explain what the purpose of the Foreign Office and foreign policy is when it comes to a single mum in Yorkshire. It is not a geographical point; the same applies to anywhere in the north or in the country. The point is to ask what the role of the Foreign Office is for the average person in the street and for those who feel left behind. How does it make their lives better, not just the lives of those who want to sound and feel good at dinner parties in north London?

I was once told by a senior Foreign Office official that it was one of the great offices of state and that, in effect, it had a right to exist. In today’s world, that will not cut it. We need to be honest, realistic and brutal as to what it is we want from our Foreign Office. There should be far more effort and focus on the national interest. If we cannot show why it matters, or articulate and demonstrate what foreign policy achieves for Brits—how it makes the world safer for them and creates jobs—then that is the challenge. The question then is why we are doing it. Whatever we have to do has to be relevant to the interests of this country—why we push human rights, why we support Ukraine, and why energy and food security matter.

I end with a quote from my good friend and foreign affairs specialist Professor John Bew. He wrote recently that

“the national interest of the UK—which I would define as improving the security and economic life of the British people—requires us to get down to work to seek hard economic and security outcomes, rather than the sentimental education of those whose world-view does not exist in perfect sympathy with our own”.

This is an opportunity to have more Britain in the world. All that is needed is the will, energy and vision to deliver for Britain.