UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy opens AUKMIN in London with a statement that “Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security is indivisible” and the UK’s Indo-Pacific presence has evolved from a tilt to a “strategic must”. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong calls out Russia for its illegal war of aggression towards Ukraine and also North Korea for its support for Russia’s war.

Says the strategic context is as dangerous as it’s ever been since WWII.

A few thoughts on Starmer's trip to Berlin, and the investments being made into the UK-Germany bilateral relationship 🇬🇧🇩🇪

1. Germany has been a clear target, and Starmer's visit follows early trips by the Defence & Foreign Secs. There are political and policy reasons for this. 2. As PM, Sunak only visited Germany for the first time in April. But I believe that, even if the Tories had won the election, Germany would have been a bigger focus, as both parties made mentions in their manifestos. The breadth of issues identified for the Treaty shows why.

Extraordinary speech by the UK Foreign Secretary on China last night. Its objective appears to be to give clarity on UK's position to domestic and international audiences, and make the case for UK-China 🇬🇧🇨🇳engagement.

Remarkable for a few reasons... 🧵
gov.uk/government/spe… 1. The speech opens with a riposte to the sharp end of the Westminster China hawks, who have tended to see language as the defining indicator of the UK’s position. Echoing the PM's speech to the Lord Mayor’s Banquet last year, it condemns the focus on rhetoric as reductive.

Delighted to publish @thebfpg’s 2021 public opinion report – the most comprehensive survey undertaken on UK views on foreign policy. It's also a study that reveals so much about the UK’s social fabric & political landscape.

Some highlights... (thread)

bfpg.co.uk/2021/02/2021-a… 1. International identities such as global citizenship, patriotism, being ‘European’ are fiercely contested & closely correlated with domestic political identities. They also cleave onto 'national' identities like self-identifying as English or British.

The #GE2019 campaign is striking for the breakdown of consensus in parties' foreign policy visions - in part, reflecting rising social polarisation, but also, in turn, entrenching it.

To explore these trends, @TheBFPG has conducted a new survey w/ @OpiniumResearch: 1. Overall, Brits identify Russia as the single greatest threat to global peace and security, followed by North Korea, China and Iran.

But almost a third of the country also sees the United States - our 'special relationship' - as an equivalent threat.