Backwards Labour are showing Reform UK are right-thinking and forward-looking | Politics | News
Reform once again finds itself on the right side of the foreign policy argument. Nigel Farage has shown consistency both in the midst of hesitation and weakness on the Chagos Islands and in helping the Americans on Iran. The reform chief has harshly criticized China’s Chagos grand inference – the transfer of Britain’s Indian Ocean territory to China’s ally the Maldives at British taxpayers’ expense – while previously attending rallies in support of Iranian reformists. Following events in the Middle East, Farage rightly said that Iranian refugees – if they turn up – should be accommodated in neighboring countries and not in the UK, which has more than its fair share of asylum seekers.
He also said that many liberal-minded Iranians who left their country would consider returning if a new liberal government was installed. Reform now has a golden opportunity to reshape the UK’s foreign and defense policy; particularly by reactivating an increasingly woke Foreign Office, recalibrating post-Brexit Britain ‘east of Suez’ and strengthening our oft-neglected armed forces.
Farage could do much worse than start rebuilding ties with the Commonwealth, particularly the CANZUK countries of Australia, Canada and New Zealand, as well as other Kingdoms with which we share a king, such as Jamaica.
Reformation’s most important immigration plans are well connected to foreign policy, as can be seen in recent statements regarding Iran. Meanwhile, renewed Commonwealth ties could be both economic and defence-focused.
We share the same commander-in-chief with Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and worked as a combined Commonwealth army in the conflict in Korea as well as the post-war occupation of Japan.
Intelligence links with these countries could build on the existing Five Eyes agreement with the CANZUK quartet plus the United States. And let’s not forget trade: How plentiful are the opportunities in Australia and Canada compared to Belgium and the Netherlands?
Rather than looking back at a moribund and sclerotic EU (note the harsh response to the Iran war), Reformation can build something great with our Commonwealth brothers, including brave Singapore, as well as giants like India.
In fact, renewed Commonwealth ties will help stem the tide of mass immigration, as most immigrants to Britain still come from Commonwealth countries. Working more closely with Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka means we have better cooperation on immigration control and return.
Post-Brexit Britain deserves better than this incompetent Labor government with its backward-looking foreign policy. Reform, of course, needs to fix borders, crime and the economy, but this goes hand in hand with new global support. Focus on the May elections and beyond as opinion polls continue to favor Reform.
