LONDON, July 5. /TASS/. The Labour Party's rise to power in the UK following the results of the parliamentary elections will not change London's policy on Ukraine, Professor Patrick Diamond of Queen Mary University of London told a TASS correspondent.
"The UK's commitment to Ukraine will very much continue under [Keir] Starmer's Labour-led government. I do not anticipate any significant or fundamental change. It will be a very strong support for Ukraine, the people of Ukraine and the Ukrainian government. I do not think the election itself will have any consequences for the UK foreign policy vis-a-vis Ukraine," he said.
Putting the EU first
According to Diamond, the new government’s foreign policy will focus on strengthening the United Kingdom's relations with the European Union. He noted, however, that Labour will not try to bring the UK back into the EU. "Labour’s manifesto is very clear. Under the Labour government with Keir Starmer as prime minister they won't seek to rejoin the European Union. They are not going to rerun the Brexit referendum of 2016," the political scientist said.
"Labour has been very clear about that, because they can sense that the UK public does not want to have another argument about whether Britain should be in Europe. They have been arguing about this issue for a decade. But also, the Labour government wants to create more stability particularly for businesses. If we were to again revisit the question what the UK-EU relationship should be - that would create another period of instability," Diamond emphasized.
The expert added that there "won't be a renegotiation of long-term constitutional relationship between the UK and the EU, but we could expect Starmer government to be closer to Europe, first of all on trade, where they will try to resolve trade frictions and reduce trade barriers." According to the professor, the Labour government will also not bring the UK back into the EU's single market or customs union, but may try to amend the Brexit agreement made with Brussels for the sake of increasing exports of British goods and services to the EU.
He also drew attention to Labour's willingness to sign a London-Brussels defense pact.
"There is a longstanding period of cooperation between the UK and other major powers in the European Union, particularly France, including on defense. <…> There is a recognition in the UK that it is going to be necessary to spend more on defense in the foreseeable future, but also to share burden with European countries. It will be a security partnership based on common values and interests," Diamond said.
Relations with the US and the Gaza crisis
The political analyst doubts that the Labour government will seek to conclude a free trade agreement with the US, something the Conservative Party failed to do while it was in power, despite promises to the contrary. "I do not think the UK government is going to be focusing very much on trying to negotiate fresh trade agreements with the United States or countries like Australia and New Zealand. I think it will be very much focusing on trying to improve the position with its closest export market which is the EU," the expert noted.
Speaking about the situation in the Gaza Strip, Diamond also noted that he would not expect any wholesale changes in London’s policy here either. "In the Labour party manifesto, there is a commitment to the recognition of a Palestinian state, and that is different to the previous election. This kind of commitment has not been so explicit, although in a sense it is only confirming what's been Labour’s policy for many years, which is to have a two-state solution. But I think Labour commitment is an important symbol. Other than that, I do not see any scope for significant changes in terms how the UK foreign policy works vis-a-vis Israel and Palestine," the expert concluded.