Trump, texts and ‘telling the truth’: Labour maps out its foreign policy
David Lammy woos world leaders on Whatsapp as he lays groundwork for his party on the global stage
IT WAS with a stony face and one eye on the opinion polls that Rishi Sunak declared on Monday that Britain’s next few years could be its hardest.
An “axis of authoritarian states” led by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea would threaten national security under Labour, he said, warning that only the Tories could keep Britain safe.
David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, is the man hoping to convince the public otherwise. Since 2021 Mr Lammy has overseen the abandonment of a Corbyn-era foreign policy that was widely seen as soft on Russia, ambivalent about the nuclear deterrent and opposed to Nato, and the embrace of a doctrine he hopes will win over the public this autumn.
As Sir Keir Starmer’s envoy, he has also spent the last two years softening up foreign governments to the prospect of a Labour victory. Those close to Mr Lammy say he has taken inspiration from Emmanuel Macron’s “Whatsapp diplomacy” and texts world leaders directly to convey the party’s message.
“The younger leaders are all in constant contact by messaging,” said a party source, noting that Mr Lammy has “thrown himself into his phone” in recent months, using Signal, Microsoft Teams and Whatsapp to keep in contact with the foreign ministers he hopes will soon be his counterparts.
Others known to eschew the official channels and “go direct” are Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, and Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden’s national security adviser.
The centrepiece of Labour’s foreign policy offering in this year’s manifesto will be a new security pact with the EU, designed to appeal to Europhilic voters and defence hawks alike.
But it is Washington where Mr Lammy has spent the most time laying the groundwork for Labour in government. Last week Mr Lammy visited the US capital for a meeting with Mr Sullivan, and to continue a project that has caused some unease back in Labour HQ: a charm offensive on Donald Trump.
A meeting with Chris Lacivita, Mr Trump’s campaign manager, marked the first official contact between Labour and Trump World, and the culmination of months of work by Mr
Lammy to woo the former president’s inner circle. Speaking at a Right-leaning think tank last Wednesday, Mr Lammy praised Mr Trump for urging Nato countries to spend more on defence, said the Republican front-runner had been “misunderstood” by some in Europe and pitched for “common ground” between them.
The feeling is somewhat mutual. Elbridge Colby, a former Trump foreign policy official thought to be in line for a campaign job, said this month that Mr Lammy is “far preferable” to Lord Cameron and that the two men shared a “compatible vision”.
Labour’s break with Corbynism has seen Mr Lammy take on a new doctrine he calls “progressive realism” – which makes clear Labour will work with traditional political enemies to pursue British interests abroad.
Its title is a nod to another unlikely inspiration – Henry Kissinger, the late US secretary of state who ruthlessly pursued a policy of maximising US power by “balancing” states against each other and shuttling between foreign capitals to broker deals favourable to Washington.
Mr Lammy has given the approach a Labour twist, and says he will use the “realist means” associated with Mr Kissinger to pursue “progressive ends”, including “countering climate change, defending democracy, and advancing the world’s economic development”. The “realist” part of the doctrine involves being upfront with allies about defending the West from threats including China and Russia.
The shadow foreign secretary has told advisers they must take inspiration from Radek Sikorski, Poland’s centre-right foreign minister, in “telling the truth” to allies about the threadbare state of world security.
Mr Lammy says that some describe him as a “small-c conservative”. In seeking unusually diverse inputs on his foreign policy plans, he now has a fair claim to be the least Left-wing member of the party’s top team.
His stance is seen by some as a Damascene conversion, after his nomination of Mr Corbyn for the Labour leadership in 2015 and description of Mr Trump as a “racist” and “neo-nazi sympathiser”. A Trump-friendly Labour government would also face opposition from many of the party’s MPS, who feel Sir Keir should have been tougher on Israel over the war in Gaza. Already, the shadow cabinet faces calls from Labour benches to abandon all support for Benjamin Netanyahu.
With an election just months away, the party’s planning for government is still a work in progress. But if the campaign is to be dominated by global issues, some feel Labour is ready.
“An election on foreign policy?” scoffed one party source. “Bring it on.”