Reform UK Needs a Serious Foreign Policy — And We're Building One

We've Laid Strong Foundations, But There's More Work Ahead

I'm proud of Reform UK's clarity on one major foreign policy issue: migration and return agreements. Our chair Zia Yusuf has rightly identified this as a central pillar of our approach — working with countries to establish proper return agreements so that migrants crossing illegally can be sent back.

But recently, Chatham House asked a fair question: does Reform UK have a coherent foreign policy beyond migration? The answer is: we're building one. And we need to be serious about it, because Britain faces genuine challenges that migration policy alone can't solve.

Ukraine: The Test of Our Commitment

Russia's continuing aggression in Ukraine isn't a sideshow. It's a test of whether the West — and Britain specifically — will stand by our principles and support a democratic nation against authoritarian expansion.

Reform UK must have a clear position here. Are we committed to Ukraine's sovereignty and security? What's our red line? How do we balance support for Ukraine with prudent use of British defence resources? These aren't secondary questions — they're foundational to any serious foreign policy.

The American Question

Britain's security ultimately rests on stable relationships with our allies, particularly the United States. But American foreign policy isn't constant. We need to think seriously about what happens if US political priorities shift, if America pulls back from European security commitments, or if the transatlantic relationship becomes less reliable.

This doesn't mean abandoning the US partnership. It means being clear-eyed about our own strategic interests and not relying blindly on assumptions that proved true for seventy years but might not hold indefinitely.

Defence Spending and Strategic Clarity

We can't have a serious foreign policy on the cheap. Britain currently spends around 2.3% of GDP on defence — meeting NATO's minimum commitment but not exceeding it. Yet we face pressure from Russia, instability in the Middle East, and growing challenges from China.

Reform UK must address this directly: what does Britain's defence posture need to be? What level of spending is genuinely required? And how do we explain to voters why increased defence spending is necessary?

Building Beyond Migration

Return agreements with France and other European countries remain crucial. But a comprehensive foreign policy also needs thinking on: our role in NATO, defence capabilities, relationships with non-Western powers, trade policy, and climate security.

I want Reform UK to be known not just as the party that gets immigration right, but as the party with serious, strategic thinking about Britain's place in an unstable world. We're not there yet. But we're building it, and we're honest about the challenge ahead.