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What Should a Whole Nation Approach to Foreign Policy Look Like?
- Miranda Jupp
- Feb 13, 2025
- 3 min read
Co-founder of Whole Nation Conservatives Miranda Jupp is a longstanding North East Conservative activist and former council candidate. Prior to the 2024 General Election she was Chief of Staff to Sir Simon Clarke.
The first duty of the UK Government, regardless of political colour, is to keep our country safe. As such, this priority should lie at the heart of the approach to international relations, including both foreign policy and our approach to international trade.
The Labour Government’s approach to the Chagos Islands is utterly baffling in this regard. To abandon sovereignty over a strategic military asset, handing control to an ally of China AND hand over billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money (at a time of tight budget constraints) to boot is clearly not in the national interest. In a geopolitical environment with growing instability, Conservatives should be robust in our defence of prioritising the strategic interests of Britain and her allies above the virtue signalling of submitting to non-binding ‘international law’ judgements. We should not naively think that those with different values to our own will respect international conventions where they conflict with their self interest, and we should not be compromising our security by failing to defend our own interests. Maintaining international order and defending western values are clearly beneficial to the well being of all parts of the country.
Our approach to international trade should also be mindful of security and geopolitics, but also has potential to support stronger regional economies around the UK. Regions such as the North East, Midlands,South West, Wales and Scotland have a very different balance of goods trade when compared to the more prosperous London and the South East. In 2023, Scotland recorded a small international trade surplus, and the other regions much smaller trade deficits than other regions, with the North East, South West and Midlands increasing the value of their exports compared to the previous year. Increasing export opportunities is therefore likely to benefit the remaining manufacturing industries in these regions, and given the United States are our largest export partner, prioritising an FTA with the US would present an important chance to boost regional growth.
In the context of free trade agreements, we must however be conscious of the potential for labour market flexibility desired by some trading partners notably India, (and to an extent the European Union, though there are other issues in play in the EU case, particularly around regulatory constraints and their impact on trade with other markets) to conflict with the importance of maintaining community cohesion. Opening the doors to low skilled immigration is the antithesis of a Whole Nation approach: it increases pressure on public services, exacerbates housing shortages and acts as a downward pressure on wages, especially for those in working class communities who have been hardest hit by the impacts of deindustrialisation. As such, it is vitally important that labour mobility aspects of trade agreements consider how value is being added for all trade partners involved: there are examples where the ability to share expertise more easily would have potential to boost growth and prosperity, but careful consideration is needed to avoid costs to the exchequer and society.
In conclusion, we should seek to develop a realist approach to Britain’s position in a globalised world. The national interest must come first, and security and defence should never be compromised. We should explore the opportunities of global free trade, and promote the things we do best to the world. But we must always keep in mind the needs of our society and British Citizens, considering decisions in a holistic manner to avoid repeating some of the past mistakes which have created challenges which harm communities.
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