Extracts from Foreign Secretary Mansion House address to City of London

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is expected to say the extracts below in annual Mansion House address to City of London:

“We took a very different view to the US and Israel at the start of this conflict. When their action got underway, we faced a choice. We considered the issues carefully.  

“The need for a clear plan. The risks of escalation. The potential economic consequences. The lawful basis for any action. We made the choice not to provide support for the initial strikes or to get drawn into offensive action. 

“That was the decision Prime Minister Keir Starmer took – calm and clear, guided by UK interests and UK values. 

“A different party in power with a different Prime Minister in Downing Street, might have taken a different decision. 

“Governments are judged by the decisions they make, and the instincts that guide them, in moments of grave crisis. And in those crucial hours on the morning of 28th February, when other parties were demanding to know why we were not taking part in the strikes on Iran, this Government stayed calm and held firm. 

“We have learned the lessons of the recent past – especially from Iraq. No matter what the pressure from other parties or other countries, we do not believe it is right to outsource our foreign policy to anyone.  

“That is what the British public should rightly expect of their leaders. Taking independent decisions according to the UK national interest and UK values. 

“Events in the Middle East are weighing heavy on us. It might be tempting, even comforting, to think that the Iran crisis is a once in a generation shock. 

“But this is the third time in six years that international events have sent economic tidal waves around the globe, hitting Britain's shores: the Covid pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine and now the Iran conflict. 

“Instability and volatility are becoming increasingly chronic. Turbulence is the new normal. The new reality we face did not begin with the war in Iran, nor will it end with a reopened Strait.  

“For too long, the UK clung to the prevailing security assumptions of the last two decades.   

“Our country had planned for a post-Cold War peace dividend…Instead we have wars in the Middle East and Europe and an aggressive, expansionist Russia that menaces our continent.  

“Ministers hoped that well-managed economic globalisation would expand trade, reduce conflict and that a rising tide would lift all boats…Instead we have seen instability, inequality and rising protectionism threatening our economic security.  

“Rapid technological change that we should be well placed to take advantage of, but undiversified supply chains used for economic coercion. The interdependence that has helped make us prosperous being weaponised against us. And in China's rise, the most consequential economic transformation of the last century.   

“All this amidst fast changing US priorities and focus, with far-reaching implications for European responsibility, and for our own defence. 

“These assumptions – about benign international security, stable globalisation and predictable alliances – may have been well intentioned, but UK Governments were too slow to adapt as the world changed.  

“Stability and security were taken for granted.  

“There was too much complacency about the resilience of our alliances and international institutions and the UK role within them, leading to short-term decisions over the last 15 years that have corroded our long-term strength and resilience.  

“An era of complacency. In which defence spending was cut to the bone, and – in the words of a former Conservative defence secretary – key capabilities hollowed out.  

“The energy transition was hobbled.  

“Carelessness from previous Governments about economic security and sovereign capabilities. And about the state of our partnerships including with Europe and with NATO. 

“We cannot and will not do that any more. So that is why, since this Labour Government came to office, our foreign policy has increasingly focused on ensuring that Britain can thrive amidst the scale of upheaval and change. Embodied in this Prime Minister's calm and steady approach. 

“Putting security – both national security and economic security – much more centrally at the heart of our approach, guided by our values and our national interests, not outsourcing foreign policy decisions to anyone else. 

“And in place of complacency, a new determined diplomacy, renewing and adapting existing partnerships, but also building new agile alliances. 

“Because the work we do abroad makes us stronger at home.”