Prime Minister Andy Burnham takes office at a time when our international system is under profound strain, where international law and the UN Charter are violently challenged, and when citizens in the UK and globally are increasingly facing the fallout of intersecting crises and global shocks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Escalating\u00a0violent conflicts, cascading economic, energy and food crises, the proliferation of\u00a0new technologies, and the climate emergency all require global solutions.\u00a0We have seen the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz already have\u00a0knock on effects<\/a>\u00a0on the livelihoods of people at home, and should this instability worsen food prices will\u00a0likely spike.\u00a0As the new Prime Minister arrives in Downing Street, UNA-UK\u00a0calls\u00a0on\u00a0his\u00a0Government\u00a0to\u00a0emphasise that economic and political investment in international cooperation is an opportunity to build a safer, more\u00a0resilient\u00a0and sustainable world, and in turn a more prosperous Great Britain.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The UK has\u00a0an opportunity to build on its\u00a0record of\u00a0leadership<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0tackling\u00a0the climate and nature crisis\u00a0and\u00a0fulfil its responsibility\u00a0as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council to play a\u00a0constructive role in the international system.\u00a0Prime Minister Burnham\u2019s\u00a0experience\u00a0as\u00a0Mayor\u00a0of Manchester\u00a0can help ensure the UK further develops international cooperation among cities and local authorities at a time when\u00a0their role in multilateralism is ever more vital, from work on protecting\u00a0future generations<\/a>, implementing the\u00a02030 agenda<\/a>\u00a0and actioning\u00a0climate pledges<\/a>.\u00a0Moreover, Foreign\u00a0Secretary\u00a0Ed\u00a0Miliband\u00a0has been at the helm of the UK\u2019s\u00a0recent\u00a0leadership on climate action<\/a>, positively leading implementation domestically and\u00a0demonstrating\u00a0constructive\u00a0engagement in global climate\u00a0mechanisms.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0There are early\u00a0opportunities\u00a0for the UK to set the tone for how it intends to\u00a0positively\u00a0use its international influence,\u00a0in\u00a0particular\u00a0the ongoing\u00a0UN Secretary-General selection process<\/a>. The UK\u00a0must\u00a0play a positive role in the current process. Supporting a robust, merit-based process is vital, as well as clear messaging that any candidate\u00a0who\u00a0does not clearly support the UN Charter\u00a0or\u00a0has\u00a0engaged in initiatives that go against\u00a0it, would be unacceptable to the Government. Subsequently, the\u00a0upcoming\u00a0UN General Assembly,\u00a0and preparations for hosting next year\u2019s G20 summit, present\u00a0opportunities\u00a0to engage directly with other member states and set out the UK\u2019s foreign policy priorities.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n In recent\u00a0years\u00a0the costs of illegal, unilateral acts of aggression by member states, including Permanent Members of the\u00a0Security Council, have\u00a0demonstrated\u00a0that when the\u00a0Charter is violated by some, it becomes easier for others to follow suit.\u00a0Russia\u2019s ongoing assault on Ukraine\u00a0has\u00a0repeatedly violated international humanitarian law<\/a>, with constant attacks on\u00a0civilians and civilian infrastructure.\u00a0The US\u2019s\u00a0unilateral and illegal\u00a0war\u00a0on Iran<\/a>\u00a0violated the\u00a0Charter and has fuelled a wider conflict in the region where civilians are paying the highest price.\u00a0Perceived double standards in adhering to international law has weakened the architecture of global norms\u00a0established\u00a0to prevent escalation, grave\u00a0violations\u00a0and harms.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0Prime Minister has\u00a0rightly\u00a0recognised\u00a0that Keir Starmer\u2019s response to Israel\u2019s\u00a0military action\u00a0\u2013 which the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry has assessed constitutes genocide \u2013\u00a0has been inadequate,\u00a0and this must now be followed by urgent action to\u00a0prioritise ending\u00a0all\u00a0arms sales to Israel,\u00a0meet the UK\u2019s legal obligations to\u00a0ban trade with\u00a0the\u00a0illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and publish the government\u2019s long-awaited response the International Court of Justice\u2019s 2024\u00a0advisory opinion<\/a>.\u00a0It is also imperative for the UK\u00a0to\u00a0go further in efforts to support the people of Sudan by\u00a0using maximum\u00a0diplomatic leverage to prevent\u00a0escalating atrocities. This should include\u00a0highest-level\u00a0engagement with Gulf partners, especially the UAE as the main backer of RSF, and concerted efforts to reduce the risks of this deadly conflict conflating with instability in Hormuz and Red Sea\u00a0that will\u00a0exacerbate\u00a0fallout on global trade.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Against this backdrop, the UK has increased its\u00a0military spending without adequately\u00a0resourcing diplomacy and international engagement. This approach has\u00a0undermined\u00a0the UK\u2019s capacity to engage and lead on peacebuilding, atrocity\u00a0prevention\u00a0and development. Against the backdrop of a volatile international security environment and deep mistrust between nuclear weapons states and non-nuclear weapon states, the UK\u00a0must recommit to its disarmament obligations under the NPT<\/a>. In addition, the\u00a0UK should play a positive role in efforts to establish international regulation of autonomous weapons<\/a>\u00a0by supporting negotiations at the upcoming CCW Review Conference, especially given its ability to play a positive role on AI governance and security more generally.\u00a0<\/p>\n Recent\u00a0details\u00a0on\u00a0UK\u00a0development cuts<\/a>\u00a0have shown\u00a0some of most drastic cuts in the world, including\u00a0to\u00a0much of Africa and to Lebanon.\u00a0The UK should reconsider these budget priorities. It should also further prioritise debt relief and engage its experts and diplomats in the international policy conversations about rethinking the future of aid and development in a way that genuinely empowers local responders not merely uses them as an excuse for cost cutting.\u00a0In addition, the\u00a0Home Office\u2019s new visa policies<\/a>\u00a0ensure that Afghan and Sudanese women, praised by UK diplomats for their resilience, are now forbidden from coming to the UK to study in case they prove to be eligible for refugee status.\u00a0Talk of assisting women and\u00a0girls\u00a0rings hollow when programmes dedicated to them are being decimated\u00a0and\u00a0hostile policies\u00a0block their access to protection and education.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n At a time when trust and investment in international cooperation is under threat, the UK should lead by example by matching rhetoric with action. Successive governments have\u00a0stated\u00a0the UK\u2019s commitment to the UN and multilateralism while at the same time slashing development spending and shrinking foreign office resources and staffing. The UK\u2019s history as\u00a0a founder of the UN\u00a0and its responsibility as a Permanent Member of the\u00a0Security Council demands political and financial investment to bolster the UN system by supporting its reform and renewal. We look forward to supporting the Prime Minster and Foreign Secretary\u00a0to\u00a0position\u00a0the UK as a champion for global cooperation at a time when it is vitally needed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Read more:\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prime Minister Andy Burnham takes office at a time when our international system is under profound strain, where…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":710483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-710482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=710482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/710483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=710482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=710482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=710482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}