The Locarno Speech

My speech on the future of the UK's foreign policy

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Last week, I delivered a speech on UK foreign policy in the Locarno Rooms.

Bevin remains my inspiration. As I set out in opposition, and have been showing since coming into government, my approach to our foreign policy is one of progressive realism.

I set out in the speech three realist principles which will guide our foreign policy to get us to a more progressive 2035. But again and again in the past, realism has also meant progressive reform of our institutions.

Over the last six months, I have seen in the FCDO the most dedicated public servants I have ever met. But we must do more to harness the strengths of the Foreign Office to deliver on two domestic priorities of the British people – tackling irregular migration and boosting economic growth.

Please find the speech below.

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Six months after becoming Foreign Secretary, I have gathered you here, in the Foreign Office, to talk about the future.

But I want to begin by looking back. Because it was here Ernest Bevin developed a plan that has kept us safe for almost eighty years.

Six months after Attlee’s great government began, in January 1946, Bevin stared into geopolitical fog. The Second World War had only just ended. The Cold War was only just beginning. It was hard to see six months, let alone six years ahead.

But Bevin did not sit waiting for the fog to clear. He was a minister of action, who saw that what matters is not just what Britain says, but what it does.

What matters is not just what Britain wants but what it builds. What matters, hat makes us matter, is having a strategy. Which is why Attlee’s manifesto was called ‘Let Us Face The Future’.

In foreign affairs, this meant pooling defences in a new transatlantic alliance. Acquiring a nuclear deterrent – which still protects the UK and NATO. And a robust commitment to international law and new institutions like the UN. A strategy that was both progressive and realist. That took the world as it is whilst working for the world we want to see.

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Facing The Future Today

Today, we must face the future once again with our Plan for Change. Fixing the foundations at home, of economic stability, secure borders and national security. So that we can deliver the priorities of hard-working people and a decade of national renewal.

But to succeed in that task, we must navigate an increasingly volatile world. To deliver at home, this Department must deliver our international strategy abroad. Such a strategy is not about crystal-ball gazing on what might happen next week on X or in the Middle East.

That’s not what I am focused on today. Rather I want us to be looking at how we get to a more progressive 2035. And that means confronting some hard truths, about the state of the country, about the state of the world, and the need for reform.

First, we must recognise that foreign policy begins at home.

Britain’s influence under the Tories was at a low ebb. The Conservatives’ foreign policy legacy may be less tangible to voters than soaring waiting lists, but it was just as damaging.

Relations with our closest neighbours in Europe plunged to a post-war nadir. Climate leadership abandoned by Rishi Sunak. Global investors horrified by Liz Truss’ kamikaze budget.

Migration left out of control and a botched merger under Boris Johnson. Our armed forced undermined by David Cameron’s cuts. And the FCDO rudderless with 7 Foreign Secretaries in 7 years.

Second, we have to accept there is no going back.

We must stop the 1990s clouding our vision. The post-Cold War peace is well and truly over. This is a changed strategic environment.

The number of conflicts higher than at any time since 1945. The spectre of famine from Gaza to Sudan. And the most refugees and displaced people on record.

I am occasionally asked on my travels, here and on the doorstep, when will the Kremlin threat, this upheaval, end? When will things go back to normal? My answer is they will not. Europe’s future security is on a knife-edge.

Bevin warned in 1948 that we would only preserve peace by mobilising such force, and I quote, “As will create confidence and energy on the one side and inspire respect and caution on the other.” And this is exactly what we need now.

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Progressive Realism in Practice

That’s why our foreign policy had to change. Inspired by Bevin, I call our new approach Progressive Realism. Taking the world as it is, not as we wish it to be. Advancing progressive ends by realist means.

Through a storm of crises we have been putting this into practice. In Europe, progressive realism means working with our European neighbours rather than isolating ourselves from them.

New defence and migration agreements with Germany, an ambitious UK-France Summit in the works, a new era in relations with Ireland, a new foreign policy dialogue with the EU, the first step towards a new UK-EU Security Pact.

With the United States, our closest ally, progressive realism means strengthening our friendship with both sides of the aisle.

Joining them to defend Israel from Iranian attacks, together with Australia, further progressing the AUKUS partnership and making a breakthrough for UK defence companies thanks to ITAR changes.

Against Russia, progressive realism means not allowing Putin’s mafia state to act with impunity. And showing the world our resolve to stand by Kyiv until they prevail, guaranteeing £3bn a year in military aid for as long as it takes and unlocking new funding backed by frozen Russian assets.

As well as stepping up action with allies on Kremlin disinformation and making it my personal mission to choke off Russian revenues through our sanctions, imposing the most of any country against Russia’s Shadow Fleet and driving forward my campaign against kleptocracy.

In the face of conflicts in the Middle East and beyond, progressive realism means standing firm against terrorism and behind international law. Doubling our aid for Sudan, helping hundreds of Brits leave Lebanon, restoring funding for UNRWA, standing up for international courts, taking tough decisions on export licences.

But not flinching from defending Israel against an Iranian regime that wants to destroy it, while at the same time working for a ceasefire in Gaza so we can surge in aid bring all the hostages home and advance a two-state solution.

When it comes to China, progressive realism means consistency, not wild oscillation. As I set out when visiting Beijing and Rachel Reeves is continuing this week.

Pragmatic engagement to cooperate with China where we can, such as in trade, climate, global health, AI regulation. But also robust dialogue to challenge clear threats. Sanctioning Chinese firms who supply technologies to support Putin’s war, working for the release of Jimmy Lai, calling for an end to human rights abuses in Xinjiang, an end to cyber-attacks on the UK, and an end to sanctions on our parliamentarians.

On the climate and nature crisis, progressive realism means being clear-eyed that global action is fundamental to our energy independence and national security. We have launched the Global Clean Power Alliance, bringing twelve countries on board its first mission to turbocharge the rollout of clean energy and drive green jobs and investment at home.

And with the Global South, progressive realism means working together – no more lectures. Showing respect. Renewing partnerships. And new agreements, like those I launched with India, Indonesia, South Africa and Nigeria.

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The Strategy We Need For 2035

This is just the beginning. I am determined for my tenure to be more than day-to-day crisis management. That’s why I want to lay out three realist principles which will guide our foreign policy to get us to a more progressive 2035.

First, we and our allies must relearn the Cold War manual. Long-term thinking, not short-termism. Consistent deterrence, not constant distraction. Adapting as emerging technology reshapes the strategic environment. Securing strategic stability in an unstable world.

Our opponents are coordinating ever more closely. With Iranian drones fired at Ukrainian cities and North Korean troops now fighting against Ukraine.

We too need a whole new level of global engagement with our closest allies in the United States, Europe, the Five Eyes, our strategic partners in Japan and South Korea and with all those committed to the principles of the UN Charter. That’s precisely why we will engage with China. We have to challenge them not to throw their lot in with Putin.

Second, to be taken seriously by opponents and allies alike we must put our money where our mouth is. That starts by facing facts. Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are simply right when they say that Europe needs to do more to defend its own continent. It is myopia to pretend otherwise, with Russia on the march.

So this Government will lay out a clear pathway to reaching 2.5 per cent on defence. A figure – lest we forget – last met under a Labour government and never met by the Tories since David Cameron’s cuts.

And with John Healey, we will lead the charge to convince all our NATO allies that rising defence spending is a strategic necessity.

And third, we must forge much closer partnerships with the Global South. Because the world is larger than the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean. We cannot divorce the Euro-Atlantic from the Indo-Pacific. And the Kremlin has spread its tentacles across the globe, spewing out disinformation on every continent, dispatching mercenaries to Africa and seeking closer relations with the BRICs.

A grim vision of unending competition is not compelling to the vast majority of states. We must avoid repeating the mistakes of the early Cold War where the West lost ground in the so-called Third World. From Jakarta to Kampala, the Non-Aligned Movement was the result. And today many of those same states are structuring their foreign policy to avoid harm from US-China competition.

To shape 2035, we must offer a new vision of partnership, which approaches those countries as equals. Working with pioneers like Mia Mottley to reform the global financial system. More climate finance, delivered faster and with greater impact is not a luxury but a geopolitical necessity.

Failing to deliver means failing the Global South. And that only advantages Vladimir Putin.

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The Need For Reform

When the world changes you need to see it as it really is, and the same goes for your institutions. Again and again, realism has meant progressive reform.

The Hardinge-Crowe reforms of 1905, creating a modern policy bureaucracy, which helped Britain keep pace with its rivals in the years preceding the First World War.

The Eden reform of 1943, creating a modern diplomatic service during a World War, which was then equipped to keep the peace.

And Robin Cook’s foresight in 2000, first putting climate on the Foreign Office agenda.

Over the last six months I have seen in the FCDO the most dedicated public servants I have ever met working all over the world to avert disasters and bring countries together.

But we must do more to harness the strengths of the Foreign Office to deliver the Government’s Plan for Change.

That is why I set in train three reviews into the FCDO’s role and capability, looking particularly at our economic capability, our global impact, and our fusion of development and diplomacy.

In each case asking how can we ensure that the tools at our disposal provide maximum benefits to UK prosperity and security.

The story of the reviews is a world where the foreign and the domestic, the political and the economic, have blurred. Vladimir Putin has mastered this with his hybrid playbook, and this Department needs to reflect this reality. That’s why diplomacy and development belong together. While poverty reduction is an end in itself, our development work cannot be siloed off from geopolitics.

And that’s why I am reforming this Department, connecting its work better to two domestic priorities of the British people that cannot be solved without work abroad. Tackling irregular migration. And boosting economic growth.

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Irregular Migration

On irregular migration, it’s completely unrealistic to try to solve this issue without a role for the FCDO. A realistic strategy involves transactional, hard-headed diplomacy. To agree with partners smart interventions at every stage along the international people smuggling pathway so together we can strengthen borders, smash the gangs and get those with no right to be here returned.

There are those who have told me that this isn’t a progressive issue. They are wrong. There is nothing progressive about leaving the most vulnerable exploited, letting criminal gangs get rich and drive more crime on Britain’s streets.

The greatest failure of the last government was that they told Britain they would take back control. But they lost control. And with it they lost – and deserved to lose – the confidence of the British public.

Make no mistake, this Government, from the Prime Minister down, see the challenge for what it is. That’s why I am working closely with Yvette Cooper, sing our Departments’ new joint irregular migration unit, to deploy every tool at our disposal to restore control of our borders.

Improving cooperation on returns is how we send people home. Conflict prevention is how we stop people fleeing their homes. Development work upstream is how we encourage people to stay in their homes, like the projects we have now in Türkiye [ter-kee-yeh], Vietnam and Iraq.

And this must include our sharpest diplomatic weapons to help restore control of our borders.

Today, I am proud to announce that the UK is set to be the first country in the world to develop legislation for a new sanctions regime specifically targeting irregular migration and organized immigration crime. This will help to prevent, combat, deter and disrupt irregular migration and the smuggling of migrants into the UK. That’s playing our full part on irregular migration.

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Growth

But what about growth? This Department needs to change to help deliver Invest 2035, the Government’s modern industrial strategy.

When I visit the world’s largest and fastest-growing economies and the states and regions which are driving their growth, it’s crystal-clear how much their businesses and investors want to work with us, particularly now that we have begun to rebuild the UK’s reputation for economic competence.

This is as true in Europe – where we are resetting ties following the Conservative’s paper-thin deal, as it is in the US, Gulf and Asia.

The FCDO network needs to work hand-in-glove with the Department for Business and Trade and the Office for Investment. To spot opportunities abroad and help overseas firms to grasp the opportunities from doing business with Britain. To get better at delivering this agenda overseas, we need to recruit more diplomats with more private sector skills and experience.

More expertise in sectors like tech, data and life sciences, where the UK is at the cutting edge.

More understanding of the everyday economy in towns and cities across the country, not just the City of London. And I am making it a priority over my time in this job to get more of our staff with these skills and experience posted across the most important markets for UK growth.

Because we have a compelling story to tell of the world’s second largest exporter of professional and business services, with four of the world top ten Universities, and ranking first in Europe when it comes to tech unicorns.

One of our great strengths are our creative industries which account for almost 15% of our services exports as well as being a force multiplier for wider British influence, influence through their power to attract, not to compel.

Together with Lisa Nandy, I will therefore also be launching the new UK Soft Power Council shortly so that the Government can be a partner to those in business and beyond who are so important for our prosperity at home and our standing abroad.

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Technology

Across both these priorities, we will do much more, much more quickly if we embrace the greatest enabler of our time - technology.

I am less interested in admiring the FCDO as an historic institution than fulfilling its potential to be a cutting-edge institution, which is why I am also planning to bring AI into the heart of our work.

By the end of this parliament, our reform agenda will deliver a radically reshaped organisation with redeployed resources and completely modernised ways of working.

I believe AI can be transformative for the practice of diplomacy. And I am determined for the Foreign Office to be a pioneer in harnessing its power. An upgraded data science team will sit at the heart of this office, bringing more empirical rigour to everything that we do.

This is not a far-fetched vision. The capability already exists. In use by our friends in the US, and even some Departments in Whitehall.

Now is the time to mainstream it. Liberating more diplomats from their desks in the UK. And getting them out into our global network, combatting irregular migration and driving growth, delivering for hardworking people at home.

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The 2035 We Want

Friends, this country has faced intense challenges before. Often there have been those who have written us off. But British leaders saw our potential for change. And in their response to these challenges you see the strength deep within us.

In 1946, amid the ruins of the war, Bevin and his colleagues built NATO and the NHS. In the 1960s, Harold Wilson embraced the white heat of technology and social reforms. In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher unleashed the City of London. And as I entered politics, from Kosovo to climate change, it was Tony Blair modernising Britain at home and abroad.

In 2025, we too need to look within and see our power and potential.

Our potential to secure our borders and reform the NHS. Our potential to unlock growth and drive the clean energy transition. Our potential to reconnect with the world through a foreign policy which enables and powers change at home through a long-term international strategy.

We can be realists and optimists. We can seize the opportunities coming into view. We can show the world what a more progressive 2035 looks like and deliver the promise of a decade of national renewal.

Thank you very much.