The Times, 23 February 2021
THE UK MUST SHOW HUMILITY NOT HUBRIS AS IT MOVES FORWARD AFTER BREXIT
By Ed Balls and Jessica Redmond
Britain is opening a new chapter in its history. The Prime Minister has hailed ‘a new era of Global Britain’. But what does this mean? And with the UK this year chairing both the G7 group of industrialised countries and the COP climate talks, what will international partners make of post-Brexit Britain?
For some Brexiteers, Global Britain means a hubristic return to Commonwealth trading roots, a restored ‘global’ power liberated from the EU. For ardent Remainers, Global Britain is not Britain restored but diminished, a country set adrift from the EU and destined to economic and political decline.
Our latest Harvard paper, Finding Global Britain, concludes that neither of these two extremes are right. The UK has the economic muscle and international standing to influence the future of global growth, trade and regulation. But Britain is not a superpower that can seek to rival the US, EU or China. To be effective, the UK must combine outward-looking ambition with humility and a realistic assessment of Britain’s new place in the world.
Through interviews with UK policymakers, businesses and academics, we explore the choices and trade-offs faced by UK political leaders as they articulate our future direction. On trade, our research suggests that the focus should be on plurilateral alliances, particularly in services, rather than the limited upsides of bilateral deals. On regulation, the UK can show leadership through brokerage and innovation, rather than trying to impose its approach on the world.
But Global Britain must reach beyond these areas of international policy. On migration, it must respond to shortages of low-skilled and seasonal workers, support higher education and tackle an ageing population. To sustain support for much-needed migration, the government must persuade the public that there is effective and fair control. Our analysis also finds that a successful Global Britain must also show that the “levelling up” ambition, to reduce domestic and regional inequalities, is backed by both real action and a new constitutional settlement to preserve the Union.
Our interviews with experienced policymakers from other mid-sized countries outside of major political blocs - Canada, Australia and Singapore - are sobering. Interviewees were clear that the UK does have leverage, but to successfully use this its approach must be based on competence and brokerage, not arrogance and hubris. Competence, humility, and good ideas should guide the UK in its international engagements. If the UK government tries to assume the posture of a restored ‘Imperial Britain’, the rest of the world is just going to laugh.
Global Britain must also learn where to focus its efforts in supporting other countries’ leadership and where to pursue leadership itself. This prioritisation will also help develop the post-Brexit story by showing what Global Britain values most. Addressing the climate emergency and Covid-19 recovery is a good start. Another vital part of that prioritisation, they urge, must be maintaining a positive relationship with the EU.
The UK’s approach to the Covid-19 public health crisis and vaccine development shows the importance of getting ‘Global Britain’ right. In the early days of the pandemic, a “Britain knows best” mentality led the government to ignore WHO advice, with lessons from countries such as China, South Korea and Italy needlessly discounted. These mistakes led to the tragic loss of life that means the UK remains one of the worst hit countries by the pandemic.
The UK’s lead in the vaccine rollout now allows the UK government to tell a different story of Global Britain: by using its expertise to advocate for the vaccine to be accessible globally. Global Britain can then show itself as an outward looking and progressive player which understands that its problems are also global problems which must be solved amongst peers.
The UK faces big choices on how to develop the Global Britain agenda. Parties across the political spectrum must now mould the Global Britain of their choosing. At present ‘Global Britain’ risks being a concept owned and championed solely by the Conservative Party. Labour’s Keir Starmer and other political leaders can take note that a genuine progressive patriotism needs an ambitious vision of Global Britain. Labour can differentiate itself from the exceptionalism of Boris Johnson by showing its vision of a Global Britain that can build alliances to do good in the world, whilst domestically implementing policies to ensure every region of the UK can benefit from rising prosperity.
As for the Prime Minister, he must recognise that Global Britain demands listening not lecturing, humility not hubris. For Boris Johnson that will be quite a challenge. Only if he pulls that off that can he start to make Global Britain a reality.
Ed Balls is Professor of Political Economy at King’s College, London and Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School where Jessica Redmond is an MPP student. Their paper, with Nyasha Weinberg, Sechi Kailasa and Tommaso Cariati, is Harvard’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government Associate Working Paper No. 160