This is no time for the UK to retreat from the world

‘I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall.” As we enter the closing stages of the American election, all the hysteria, hyperbole, threats, allegations and FBI investigations in the world still don’t cover the fact that one of the most shocking statements from either nominee was right at the start of the campaign. Republican presidential Donald Trump — representing the party of former presidents Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan and Dwight D. Eisenhower — really did state that the world’s only remaining superpower was so narrow, so insular, so frightened that it would partition itself off from a world it claims to lead and bully a poorer nation into picking up the bill. The international reaction was swift and united.

Revulsion, followed by a disorientated incredulity that a country which was once so confident and so self-assured could suddenly seem so, well, small. With Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s lead in the polls now creaking, that disorientation is returning. And, just as many people across the globe look at the United States with incomprehension, so we must allow that many United Kingdom-watchers are still scratching their heads at a Britain they feel they don’t know any more.

Irrespective of which side of the Brexit debate you were on, there is an acceptance that the majority of Britain’s allies around the world believed that the UK would — albeit grudgingly — choose to remain in the European Union (EU). That Britain chose not to means that people outside the UK have had their perceptions of Britain challenged. They are looking for answers about Britain’s relationship with their own countries and their global responsibilities.

A world where Russia can march troops into Ukraine, where far-Right parties gain unprecedented support in France, Greece, Austria and even Sweden, where Syria burns and terrorists attack western cities, is a world where global leadership has never been needed more. Britons cannot afford for the US and UK to be seen to shrink from the world. That doesn’t mean a return to the sort of muscular interventionism so characterised by the second Gulf War, but it does mean demonstrating a real sense of internationalism writ large.

Walls with Mexico notwithstanding, the US election has given almost zero sense of either candidate’s foreign policy priorities. Similarly, denied a full leadership campaign to lay out her world view, British Prime Minister Theresa May is cracking ahead with the nuts and bolts of Brexit, but many are having to second-guess her new government’s strategic global aims. The early signs are encouraging. A prime ministerial trade mission to India on Sunday and confirmation that the UK is seeking tariff-free trade show the importance of commerce to the UK’s global ambition. But the pace of announcements and priorities needs to be hastened to impress upon the world that Britain is as outward-looking and engaged today as it has ever been.

For my part, I want to see the UK Government outlining new — and re-emphasising current — global goals. Taking a lead in pushing policy priorities and looking for international support for projects that will benefit the world long-term. I also want to see Britain banging the drum a bit more for all it does in the world. While modesty may be a hugely appealing national characteristic, there are times when the only people who will tell Britain’s story are Britons. Living in Scotland, where a nationalist government criticises and condemns the UK every single day, I want to see Scots talk themselves up for the force for good that they are.

Take just two examples. Right now, the UK runs the largest female education fund anywhere in the world, the Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC). It helps more than a million marginalised girls in 18 countries to enrol in school, stay in education and learn. While the GEC is aimed at improving literacy and skills, educating more women worldwide can have a far wider impact — on infant mortality, violence against women, community behaviour, productivity and poverty reduction. This is a huge global success story and we need to champion it and encourage others to make a greater contribution, too.

There is also important work going on from UK-based organisations which, with a bit of diplomatic heft from the UK government, could be transformational. The two largest de-mining charities in the world are the Halo Trust and the Mines Advisory Group (MAG). Both are British. Now they are working together to try to make the world landmine-free by 2025. But they need diplomatic backing to engage governments around the world to help.

Why shouldn’t the UK think that big? Clearing mines, offering safety to civilian populations and returning land to commercial use help increase the conditions for job creation and economic advancement. It is directly in the UK’s economic and security interest to increase the ability of other nations to trade with it and to help make sure young men of fighting age, at risk of terrorist recruitment, are in work, rather than unemployed. It is also in Britain’s direct interest, as it seeks to negotiate separate trade deals with other nations, to demonstrate that they are good global citizens. While May will take representatives of some of the best British businesses to India during her visit, she hopes: “We will send the message that the UK will be the most passionate, most consistent and most convincing advocate for free trade.” In a break from the past, May will invite small and medium-sized firms, as well as executives from major corporations, in order to ensure that companies at all levels feel they can benefit from the global economy, not be buffeted by it.

The world can often seem an insecure and disturbing place. The sense of frustration at institutional injustice, allied with impotency in the face of intractable conflict, makes it understandable that people may wish to turn away. But it is precisely when such insecurity takes hold that global leadership is most needed. Yes, there is much work for the UK to do as it prepares to leave the EU. But it has a moral duty to turn its face to the wider world; to champion trade, to advance education, to support its friends and stand firm against those who would impart evil. It can’t afford to be found wanting.

— The Telegraph Group Limited, London, 2016

Ruth Davidsdon is Leader of the Opposition in the Scottish parliament.