Foreign & Trade Policy.

End the War in Ukraine

If I were to enter parliament then I would ask the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary to establish a special task force within the Foreign Office that would be dedicated to finding a peaceful solution to the war in Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine was the result of failed negotiations, wars are not inevitable and this war could of been avoided.

One of the failed attempts at negotiation was Liz Truss who was Foreign Secretary at the time, her conversation with the Russian foreign Minister was described as "the deaf talking to the dumb", this failed negotiation together with the UK’s poor reputation due to involvement in Syria and Libya gave Russia no confidence in finding a diplomatic solution which resulted in war.

Where there is a will there is a way and it is important to resolve any problem ASAP, unfortunately there has been no political will to resolve this war. In the months following the war, Ukraine and Russia were involved in peace talks, however those talks broke down reportedly due to pressure from the UK government and as the war progresses it will be harder to negotiate peace.

Recent analysis by a German newspaper published in English by Ukrainian media concluded that: “If the war had ended about two months after it started, it would have saved countless lives.”

Should I enter parliament then I shall request that the details of conversations of both Boris Johnson and Liz Truss should be made available to the House of Commons for scrutiny.

The UK gives weapons to Ukraine to fight the war but weapons do not end wars and despite weapons Ukraine is fighting on it’s own, no Western leader has tried to negotiate or offered to mediate for a peaceful end to the fighting.

I also fear that the government is making the same policy mistakes as previous conflicts.

It has long been established that there are no winners in war, Russia isn’t going to win and Ukraine isn’t going to win either, all there will be is more death and destruction.

In the interest of the people of Ukraine, Russia and the whole of Europe, the government must make every effort to try and peacefully end this war.

I am also concerned as to the use of social media by politicians, there are hashtags such as StandWithUkraine or PutinMustFall – War is not a game and the over-use of social media is a distraction from the seriousness of the situation.

Persecution of Christians

In 2018 the then Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt commissioned a report into the worldwide phenomenon of Christian persecution.

One of the recommendations of the report stated:

“Name the phenomenon of Christian discrimination and persecution and undertake work to identify its particular character alongside similar definitions for other religions, to better inform and develop tailored FCO policies to address these.”

I will encourage government to use the term ‘Christophobia’ to describe this phenomenon.

Religious persecution has no place in the modern world, it is immature and uncivilized.

I will encourage the government to look further into how the recommendations of the report can be implemented.

When appropriate the government should raise the issue of Christian persecution at every diplomatic opportunity.

Historically, the Western World has been the bastion of Christianity, now, in the modern era, Western civilization is moving away from Christianity, more authoritarian leaders see this as an opportunity to push Christianity out of their countries, the UK should pledge to become the bastion of religious freedom once again.

Christianity is not the only persecuted religion and a Religious Freedom Report can be seen here.

Launch Public Libya Inquiry

The aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq saw the Iraq inquiry headed by Sir John Chilcot.

In this inquiry, the then Prime Minister Tony Blair made an appearance and gave evidence.

Similar to the Iraq Inquiry, I believe there should be a inquiry into the 2011 military intervention in Libya.

The House of Commons select committee has already produced a damning report into the conflict, but this was not a public inquiry and the then Prime Minister, David Cameron did not give evidence.

In the public Libya inquiry, David Cameron as well as the then French President Nicolas Sarkozy and any other figures may well be called to give evidence.

The inquiry should not only look into the military intervention itself but should also take into account the consequences of that intervention such as the civil war and giving Russia an opportunity to gain influence.

Review overseas aid

We will conduct a thorougher review of overseas aid and we will make sure that the needs of British residents are prioritise over unnecessary overseas spending.

International development is intended to help poorer countries achieve a similar standard of living as we enjoy here in the UK.
So in principle, we do support international development and it may also help to reduce migration.

However, we must be realistic and we must recognise that there is much inequality in our own country and that some areas of our country do not enjoy the same standard of living as other parts of the country.