Rishi Sunak has promised a "reinvigorated" relationship with Europe, even as he pledged that the UK would "never align" with EU law. In a speech to dignitaries and business leaders at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet in London, the Prime Minister signalled a shift in UK-EU relations in the wake of his predecessors Liz Truss and Boris Johnson.
"As we stand by Ukraine, we’re also reinvigorating our European relationships to tackle challenges like security and migration," he told the audience. In his address, he said that the UK was "evolving our wider post-Brexit relations with Europe, including bilaterally and engaging with the new European Political Community".
The first meeting of European Political Community, a project pushed by French President Emmanuel Macron, was attended by Ms Truss in one of her few international forays as prime minister. The move was taken as a sign that she wanted to thaw tensions between the UK and the bloc, which have soured amid the fallout of Brexit and a failure to reach an agreement on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Hopes have improved that a deal could be agreed over the post-Brexit arrangements in the region, amid renewed talks between negotiating teams. But Mr Sunak was also adamant that his leadership would not lead to any kind of alignment with EU law, even as he promised "mature relationships" in the future.
He said: "This is not about greater alignment. Under my leadership we’ll never align with EU law.
"Instead, we’ll foster respectful, mature relationships with our European neighbours on shared issues like energy and illegal migration to strengthen our resilience against strategic vulnerabilities." The comments from the Prime Minister come after The Sunday Times reported that senior Government figures were working towards regaining access to the single market.
Fingers were pointed at Chancellor Jeremy Hunt as the story’s source because it emerged after he had publicly conceded the Brexit deal had created trade barriers with the EU. The report, rejected by Downing Street, had raised the hackles of Brexit-backing Tory backbenchers.
Also in London’s Guildhall, Sunak offered a vision of "robust pragmatism" in standing up to global competitors like China, as he signalled an "evolutionary leap" in British foreign policy. He said: "Russia is challenging the fundamental principles of the UN Charter.
"China is consciously competing for global influence using all the levers of state power. In the face of these challenges, short-termism or wishful thinking will not suffice.
"We can’t depend on Cold War arguments or approaches, or mere sentimentality about our past." Describing the need for an “evolutionary leap” in British strategy, Mr Sunak said it would require "being stronger in defending our values and the openness on which our prosperity depends", adding: "It means delivering a stronger economy at home, as the foundation of our strength abroad.
"And it means standing up to our competitors, not with grand rhetoric but with robust pragmatism. We will do all this not only through our diplomatic expertise, science and technology leadership, and investment in defence and security, but by dramatically increasing the quality and depth of our partnerships with like-minded allies around the world."
Mr Sunak went on to tell his audience that the country had to "evolve" its approach to China. While he said that the "golden era" of UK-Chinese relations was over, he said it was wrong to "rely on simplistic Cold War rhetoric".
He continued: "We recognise China poses a systemic challenge to our values and interests, a challenge that grows more acute as it moves towards even greater authoritarianism. Instead of listening to their people’s protests, the Chinese Government has chosen to crack down further, including by assaulting a BBC journalist." But he also warned that the UK "cannot simply ignore China’s significance in world affairs – to global economic stability or issues like climate change".
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