U.K. ‘gung ho’ about world role after Brexit

CAMEROON — Britain’s new UN ambassador says the government is feeling “gung ho” about continuing its role as an important player on the world stage despite its exit from the European Union.

Barbara Woodward pointed to the U.K.’S permanent seat on the powerful UN Security Council, its presidency this year of the Group of Seven major industrialized nations, its membership in the Group of 20 leading economic powers and NATO, and its hosting of the next United Nations global climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, in November.

“Don’t underestimate the power of the relationship with the EU,” she stressed in an interview with The Associated Press this past week. “There’s a lot of values and principles which we share with European partners, which I think will stand us in good stead.”

Britain’s divorce from the EU became final on Dec. 31, a split that left the 27-member bloc without one of its major economic powers and the U.K. freer to chart its future, but facing a world trying to confront a deadly pandemic and cope with rising unemployment, growing divisions between haves and have-nots, and a climate crisis.

An article in the U.s.-based World Politics Review in October identified three visions for Britain’s future: “Catastrophists who argue that the U.K. has become completely irrelevant on the international stage as a result of Brexit; the nostalgics, who see a powerful Britain through the lens of a great colonial power; and the denialists, who refuse to accept that Britain must adapt to a changing global context.” Woodward said there are three issues that need to be tackled:

> Vaccinating rich and poor people everywhere against the coronavirus and taking action to revive economies devastated by the pandemic.

> Making climate change a top priority, focusing on preventing temperature rises, and raising the billions needed to make progress;

> Dealing with a range of global security problems.

She said Iran will be a key security issue whether or not U.S. president-elect Joe Biden goes through with his inclination to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal that President Donald Trump pulled out of.