A Labour government would convene a new business advisory council to engage on foreign policy under the party’s plans to place economics at the heart of UK diplomacy, David Lammy announced on Tuesday afternoon.
The shadow foreign secretary also committed to undertaking a strategic assessment of the placement of British diplomats overseas if the party wins the general election, expected next year.
Speaking at the Trade Unlocked conference in Birmingham, the Labour frontbencher vowed to launch a global supply chain commission in the UK, alongside a supply chain working group within the G7, to protect the “green transition and the jobs of the future”.
He also said he would seek to boost UK diplomatic staff numbers in countries “essential to the supply chains and economies of the industries of the future”, such as India.
Describing partnership with industry as a core principle of Labour’s plans, he said: “As foreign secretary, I will convene a new council of business leaders to ensure that the needs and concerns of businesses are part of our diplomatic thinking.”
The pledge to set up an advisory council comes after an independent business commission, co-chaired by the Labour MP Hilary Benn, produced a report with 114 recommendations to reduce the impact of Brexit on businesses.
It urged a future government to set up a UK “board of trade” with a role similar to the Office for Budget Responsibility to assess the impact of future trade deals and regulatory divergence.
In his speech Lammy re-emphasised that improving Britain’s economic and security relationship with the EU will be a priority of a Labour government, while reiterating his party’s opposition to rejoining the EU, the single market or the customs union.
While Labour has promised to move “closer” to Europe, it has provided scant detail on how, given that the party has ruled out joining a customs union with the EU or rejoining the EU single market.
Opening the conference, Juergen Maier, former boss of Siemens UK, said Britain needed to act to ensure that “shutters did not come down” on UK exporters after several years of weak post-Brexit trade performance.
“There is an unmistakable demand for change. We can no longer accept business as usual,” he told an audience of several hundred business owners and industry leaders.
In his speech, Lammy accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s administration of allowing Britain to “lag behind”, while the nation’s closest allies “woke up long ago”.
He also drew attention to the nation’s dependence on shipping for imports and called for the UK government and businesses to work together to ensure freedom of navigation for Britain’s global shipping industry “in this newly divided era”.
Lammy added that under Labour, British diplomats would be tasked with “helping to create the conditions for growth, navigating this new geopolitical and geoeconomic context, driving forward the energy transition”.
In advance of the speech, Lee Anderson, deputy chair of the Conservative party, criticised Lammy for speaking at a conference organised by pro-EU campaign group Best for Britain. Labour officials responded that hundreds of business leaders, trade bodies, economic experts and policymakers were set to attend.
Anderson also urged Labour MPs to “hit the doorsteps in Ashfield [his constituency] to see if real people agree with their plan to suck up to Brussels” and claimed only the Tory government “can be trusted to protect Brexit”.
