The Daily Mail reports on the Policy Exchange Britain in the World Project’s new report and what it means for the future of UK Foreign Policy.
“He was speaking as the influential Policy Exchange thinktank urged the Government to signal Britain will still be a major military player after leaving the EU by increasing its defence spending beyond the current 2 per cent of GDP.
Ministers were also urged to play a bigger and more active role in Nato and use its membership to build closer ties with global military powers to avoid losing military influence in the world.
The Policy Exchange report – which focuses on Britain’s role in the world after Brexit – said a priority for the Government’s foreign and defence policy should be to oppose an EU army, which could undermine the UK’s position as a world power.
It predicts the ‘special relationship’ between the US and the UK will become even closer and urges Britain to strike close bilateral ties with Germany, which it sees playing an ever-increasing military role in the world.
The Policy Exchange report states: ‘Even though it has now left, the UK must develop a vision for what type of European Union it would most like to see in the future, and encourage its development.
‘If there is one lesson from our history, it is that stability on the European continent must remain one of the highest priorities for Britain’s national security.
‘In particular, the prospect of an EU Army should continue to be resisted, because of the danger that it would undermine Nato.”
The full piece can be read on The Daily Mail