Brexit success 'depends on how we reshape foreign policy over the next five years'

Britain must increase defence spending and take a more proactive role on the world stage following the Brexit vote, according to a leading academic.

The next five years will be crucial to the country’s future and the decision to leave the European Union must not be allowed to become the latest sign of the UK’s declining influence, Professor John Bew said in a report for the Policy Exchange think tank.

The paper argued that the UK should consider appointing 20 more trade negotiators and seek a special summit with the next US president about a potential transatlantic deal.

The King’s College London history professor said: “Making a success of Brexit – coming out of this process strengthened not weakened, relative to our neighbours – is to a great extent dependent on how the UK acts in the next five years.”

The vote to leave the EU “underlines the vital importance of the special relationship with the United States” and a “reinvigorated and revived” link with Washington is now critical, he added.

The report suggested that Theresa May’s Government could:

– Make a confidence-building gesture as a sign of the UK’s commitment to Nato by signalling an intent to increase spending on defence to more than the 2% of GDP obligation.

– Appoint 20 more trade negotiators working under the new Secretary of State for International Trade.

– Potentially speed up spending on defence projects such as the commissioning of the new aircraft carriers and F-35 fighter jets.

– Update the Strategic Defence and Security Review and link changes in the defence budget to the creation of jobs in deprived areas, particularly in Scotland.

– Bring forward the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting from 2018 to 2017 and make it specifically about trade.

– Seek a special summit with the next president of the United States, combining an increase in Nato defence spending with negotiations on a new Anglo-American trade deal.

Prof Bew said: “Post-Brexit there is an urgent need to establish a greater coherence in British foreign policy.

“We need a vision for a new approach that will secure the country’s long-term interests, security and prosperity in a changing world.

“It is of course important to learn the lessons from the Chilcot report but we must not shy away from playing a leading role on the global stage. The re-orientation of our foreign policy should be conducted in cool-headedness and self-confidence.”