Today (Wednesday, 26 February 2020) the UK Government launched its Integrated Review of foreign policy, defence, security and international development. As the Government it will re-examine the UK’s priorities and objectives internationally, anti-poverty organisation The ONE Campaign urged the Government to ensure the review looks to the future. Romilly Greenhill, UK Director of ONE, said:

“This is a timely moment for the UK to re-evaluate its role in the world and it is a positive sign that this will be a joined up process that takes account of all the ways in which the UK engages with the world around us.

“But the sad truth is that too often these reviews simply ending up preparing us for the last war or crisis we faced. At best they might make us slightly better prepared for the next crisis but they rarely, if ever, ask the truly important question of how to avoid these crises in the first place.

“If Boris Johnson really wants to relaunch the UK on the world stage then he needs this review to look hard at the biggest issues facing the world at the start of this decade – spiralling inequality and entrenched poverty, increasingly complex global health threats, the mass movement of people, and the climate crisis, as well as the impact they all have on our collective security – and ask how Britain can continue to play a leading role shaping the global response to these challenges.”