“Labour will build and strengthen modern partnerships with allies and regional powers. We will seek a new strategic partnership with India, including a free trade agreement, as well as deepening cooperation in areas like security, education, technology and climate change.”
Sir Keir Starmer launched the Labour Party’s manifesto for the July 4 General Election this week, with a commitment on an FTA with India as well as wider cooperation across different sectors.
Under the ‘Britain Reconnected’ section of the manifesto entitled simply as ‘Change’, the Opposition leader spells out his foreign policy vision.
It notes: “With Labour, Britain will once again be strong on the world stage, confident in the pursuit of our national interest, and progressive but realistic about the challenges we face. We will reconnect with allies and forge new partnerships to deliver security and prosperity at home and abroad.
“Britain will be a reliable partner, a dependable ally, and a good neighbour. An optimistic country at the start of an era of renewal.”
The central theme of the manifesto is a bid to boost wealth creation through streamlining planning rules and increasing business investment. It did not contain new policies beyond those already announced, as Starmer stressed at the launch event in Manchester that he was running "to be prime minister, not a candidate to run the circus”.
A new state-owned energy investment and generation company, hiring more police officers and renationalising nearly all passenger railway services are among the other policy highlights.
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After his speech was briefly interrupted by heckling from a climate protester, he added: "We gave up on being a party of protest five years ago. The defining purpose of my Labour leadership has been to drag my party away from the dead end of gesture politics.
"We don't have a magic wand. But what we do have, what this manifesto represents, is a credible long-term plan."
*Info: Labour Party Manifesto
