Using our financial status to achieve ethical foreign policy

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title: Foreign Policy

• table of contents {:toc}

Internationalist Stance

We believe that a clear view of the role that the UN, EU, NATO and other international bodies play in reducing the likelihood of war should be clearly and unambiguosly communicated to the electorate.

The UK should also use its membership of such bodies to influence them to reinforce this role and use this peaceful approach whenever possible to avoid conflict.

Foreign Aid

We will maintain the UK's committment to the UN Millennium Project agreement of allocating 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) to Overseas Development Assistance. These funds will be kept separate from military spending; any required security, demobilisation, or peacekeeping expenses will be seperately funded, from Defence budgets.

European Union

We believe that the UK should continue to be a strong voice in the EU. We believe that the EU project is worth pursuing, as it has brought major advantages in terms of political and military stability, scientific progress, economic power, and global influence.

However, we also know that the EU is in need of major reform to fit the politics of the future. Bureaucracy and waste must be reduced, and counter-productive programmes overhauled or removed.

We will remain a part of the EU, and we will campaign for:

• Major reform or removal of the Common Agricultural Policy, to operate in harmony with the natural environment and remove market distortions.
• Reform of fishing policy and quotas, reducing waste and allowing fish stocks to recover for the long term future of EU fisheries.
• Reform of the Emissions Trading Scheme (see Environment for more details).
• Increased democratic control of EU institutions, with improved accountability and transparency.
• A reduction in bureaucracy and inefficiency.

Arms Trading

Commit to ensuring that no British-built arms are sold to nations that are likely to use those arms against their own people, or to any other agent or third party that may do so.

Nuclear Disarmament

Commit to working towards a nuclear-weapon-free world by not renewing the Trident Nuclear Deterrent, and encouraging other nations to follow.

Capital Punishment

We strongly oppose Capital Punishment in all forms, and would work with other nations to try and achieve a worldwide commitment to end death sentences by 2020.

United Nations Reform

Whilst it's right that those nations that make the greatest contribution to UN troop deployments should retain a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, no nation on the UN Security Council should have the right of veto. All UN Security Resolutions should be subject to majority vote.

Investor-State Dispute Settlement

Resist the adoption of international treaties that could allow unelected institutions to have a chilling effect on government policy that is in the public interest of UK voters. A current example is the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) process in the TTIP treaty currently under negotiation[^1], which undermines democratic processes and could prevent the government taking action which benefits the UK if it causes potential losses for foreign investors.

Recognition of Palestine

The UK should join many other countries around the world, as well as the UN, and officially recognise Palestine as a sovereign state. This is in line with our existing national preference for a two-state solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict in accordance with international law.

Use our financial status for ethical ends

We should use our significant financial position within the global economy to help us achieve our ethical foreign policy goals. We should impose financial and trade restrictions against states who pursue aggressive or expansionist policies against their neighbours, or anti-democratic or oppressive policies against their own citizens.

[^1]: Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) - Commons Library Standard Note