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My Lord Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Whether by virtue of history or tragedy of geography, our country has always been in the eyes of the world.
I was born in Southampton…
A port city that the Victorians called the gateway to the world…
… where the Mayflower sails…
… where Spitfires were built and Allied troops embarked on D-Day.
And as we look to the world, the world often looks to Britain.
Like many others, my grandparents came to the UK via East Africa and the Indian subcontinent… and spent their lives here.
In recent years, we have welcomed thousands of…
…from Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Ukraine.
We are a country that stands for our values…
Who defends democracy not only with words…
A country that commits not only our resources but our ingenuity to improve the lives of others and our own.
Ukrainian flags have flown over almost every town and city on the islands for the past nine months.
No one asked people to put it there.
He was inspired to show solidarity with people he had never met, in a country most people had never even visited…
…to show their faith in fairness, freedom and the rule of law.
These values are constant.
They are set in stone.
But as the world evolves, so does our use of those values.
As Edmund Burke argued, circumstance and context are everything.
And today the pace of geopolitical change is intensifying.
Our opponents and competitors plan for the long term.
After years of pushing the boundaries, Russia is challenging the basic principles of the UN Charter.
China is clearly vying for global influence using all levers of state power.
To meet these challenges, short-termism or wishful thinking is not enough.
We cannot rely on Cold War arguments or approaches or mere sentimentality about our past.
So we will make an evolutionary leap in our approach.
This means being stronger in protecting our values and the openness on which our prosperity depends.
That means delivering a strong economy at home, as the foundation of our strength abroad.
And that means standing up to our competitors, not with grandiose rhetoric but with strong pragmatism.
We will do it all…
Not only through our diplomatic expertise, science and technology leadership and investments in defense and security…
…but by dramatically increasing the quality and depth of our partnerships with like-minded allies around the world.
We will provide more detail in an updated Integrated Review in the New Year…
…including how we will work with friends in the Commonwealth, the US, the Gulf states, Israel and others.
But tonight I want to describe how we are making this evolutionary leap in three other places.
First, we stand by Ukraine, we are also revitalizing our European relations to tackle challenges such as security and illegal migration.
Second, we are taking a long-term view on China, strengthening our resilience and protecting our economic security.
And third, we are taking advantage of the vast opportunities on offer in the Indo-Pacific by building deep and long-term partnerships.
First, Ukraine.
In Kiev, I have just seen how Russia’s focus is shifting from bruising encounters on the battlefield to brutalizing the civilian population.
It was written in the damaged buildings and the piles of rubble in the streets…
…In the stories of the first responders I met with a freed Kherson…
… from torture chambers to booby traps left in children’s toys.
As the world comes together to watch the World Cup…
…I saw how an explosive device was hidden inside a child’s football – in an attempt to make it a weapon of war.
It defies belief.
So make no doubt, we will stand with Ukraine as long as it takes.
Next year we will maintain or even increase our military aid.
And we will provide new air defense support to protect the Ukrainian people and the critical infrastructure they depend on.
By protecting Ukraine, we protect ourselves.
With the fall of Kabul, the epidemic, the economic struggle, some said the West was weak.
In fact, our response in Ukraine has demonstrated the depth of our collective resolve.
Sweden and Finland are joining NATO.
Germany is increasing its defense spending.
Partners like Australia, Japan and South Korea stand with us.
We have developed a completely new restriction model.
And through NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force we defend against further Russian aggression…
…whether in the east or the north.
We are also developing our wider post-Brexit relationship with Europe…
…including bilateralism and engagement with the new European political community.
But this isn’t about alignment anymore.
Under my leadership we will never align with EU law.
Instead, we will promote respectful, mature relations with our European neighbors on shared issues such as energy and illegal migration…
…to strengthen our collective resilience against strategic vulnerabilities.
And that brings me to my second point.
We also need to evolve our approach to China.
Let’s be clear, the so-called “Golden Age” is over…
…with the naïve idea that trade would automatically lead to social and political reform.
But we should not rely on simplistic Cold War rhetoric.
We recognize that China poses a systemic challenge to our values and interests…
…a challenge that intensifies as it moves into larger dictatorships.
Instead of listening to the protests of their people, the Chinese government has chosen to take more drastic measures…
…by attacking a BBC journalist.
The media – and our parliamentarians – should be able to publish these issues without sanction…
… including calling out abuses in Xinjiang – and curtailing freedoms in Hong Kong.
Of course, we cannot ignore China’s importance in world affairs…
For issues like global economic stability or climate change.
The US, Canada, Australia, Japan and many others also understand this.
So together we will manage this intense competition, including diplomacy and engagement.
A large part of this is about dramatically improving our resilience, particularly our economic security.
That is why we have created new powers under the National Security and Investment Act…
…that’s why we used it this month to block the sale of the Newport wafer fab.
That’s why we’ve taken action on 5G.
And that’s why we’re ending global dependence on authoritarian regimes—starting with Russian gas.
We are now also working to deepen our relationship in the Indo-Pacific – a third example of where we are evolving our approach.
Before I got into politics, like many of you, I invested in businesses around the world… and the opportunities in the Indo-Pacific are exciting.
Take Indonesia, which I just visited.
It is a young, dynamic country…
World’s third largest democracy…
… poised to become a top 5 global economy.
By 2050, the Indo-Pacific will deliver more than half of global growth…
…compared to only a quarter of Europe and North America.
That is why we are joining the Trans-Pacific Trade Deal, CPTPP…
…delivering a new FTA with India…
…and chasing one with Indonesia.
But Indo-Pacific economics and security are inseparable.
60% of global trade passes through regional shipping routes…
…including choke points like the Straits of Malacca.
It is in our interest to keep this trade line open.
That is why we joined the Five Power Defense Arrangement with Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore half a century ago.
And that is why we are developing new long-term defense, industrial and technological partnerships…
Like AUKUS with Australia and US…
…and a future combat air system with Italy and Japan.
By deepening these ties, we will help protect the arteries and ventricles of the global economy…
…supporting security and prosperity – both at home in our European neighborhood and in the Indo-Pacific.
My Lord Mayor,
As we meet here tonight, the people of Ukraine are on the front lines of the freedom struggle, plunged into freezing temperatures.
In Iran, women are showing the most humble and breathtaking courage…
… Thugs, refusing to bow to theocratic control.
And tomorrow Iran’s football team will again stand in solidarity with them – facing unknown consequences.
Freedom and openness have always been the most powerful forces for progress.
But they are never achieved by standing still.
As Henry Kissinger wrote:
… during periods of crisis … war, technological change or economic disruption … maintaining the status quo may be the riskiest choice of all.
Under my leadership we will not choose the status quo.
We will do things differently.
We will develop…
… always anchored by our abiding belief in freedom, openness and the rule of law…
… and believe that in this moment of challenge and competition…
… our interests will be protected… and our values will prevail.
thank you
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