Tory lawbreaking is harming Britain's reputation on the world stage, David Lammy has said.
The Shadow Foreign Secretary said that police fines for both Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak while in No10 - and Tory legislation that aimed to flout international law “damages our moral authority and political credibility”.
This dire record has shown the UK to be “unreliable” and hindered efforts to make international pacts, he told Chatham House.
He vowed to shore up Britain’s “tarnished reputation” with international allies and build closer ties with Europe after the Brexit battles.
In a speech to the foreign policy thinktank, Mr Lammy said: “Britain’s record of respect for the rule of law has become tarnished through the Overseas Operations Bill, the Internal Markets Bill, the Protocol Bill and two prime ministers fined for breaking the law.
“This record damages our moral authority and political credibility. It shows us as unreliable, making future agreements harder to reach.
“It serves the interests of those who want to weaken the rule of law. It is unbefitting of this great country.”
Mr Lammy echoed the famous Vote Leave slogan, saying Britain needs to “take back control” of its foreign policy, in a sign of Labour’s growing confidence on Brexit after years of division.
He also channelled Jeremy Corbyn by saying foreign policy needs to be “for the many not the few”.
Labour would make closer cooperation with Europe a key priority in Government, he said.
Mr Lammy said: “It is time to put an end to what the Economist has called the ‘magical thinking’ of the Conservative Party.
“And that means, yes, recognising the damage the government’s bad Brexit deal has done to our economy.”
He said Labour won’t reopen fractious debates about rejoining the EU’s customs union and single market - which the UK left after Brexit.
“But within our red lines, there is real progress we can make to increase trade with our neighbours and deliver prosperity at home,” he said.
“We will aim to fix the Tories bad Brexit deal to increase trade with Europe.”
Challenged over Labour's Brexit stance during a Q&A session, Mr Lammy said the UK cannot continue to do the "hokey cokey" on this and the bitter Brexit arguments shouldn't be revisited.
He wouldn't be pinned down on whether Labour would restore the commitment to spend 0.7% of gross national income on aid for the world's poorest.
The Tories broke their 2019 manifesto commitment to keep foreign aid spending locked in at this level - and merged the Foreign Office and the Department for International Development to the fury of diplomats.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the UK's spend would stay at 0.5% until 2028 in the Autumn Statement.
Mr Lammy said it would be irresponsible to set out Labour's spending plans ahead of the next election as the economic climate is "too turbulent".
