The Labour Party is back in power in Britain after 14 years. Labour’s Keir Starmer will be Britain’s new Prime Minister. Buckingham Palace said it had accepted Rishi Sunak’s resignation. After the result, Rishi Sunak apologised to supporters and said there was a need to learn from the verdict. At 44, Sunak has been Britain’s first Indian-origin Prime minister to reach 10 Downing Street at such a young age.
The biggest question that comes up after the result in Britian is why did the Conservative Party suffer its most embarrassing defeat in decades? According to political experts in Britain, one scandal after another is the main reason behind such a massive defeat of the Conservative Party that has led to the collapse of democracy. This hurt people’s faith in politics. Then Prime Minister Boris Johnson and ministers in his government violated lockdown rules. As the controversy escalated, Boris Johnson was replaced by Elizabeth Truss as Prime Minister. However, her economic policies were so bad that Liz could sit in the Prime Minister’s chair for only for 40 days, after which Rishi Sunak, the first British Prime Minister of Indian origin, seized power. Sunak’s government struggled with challenges such as the financial crisis, inflation and unemployment. Recently, a betting scandal also came to light, with people close to Rishi Sunak and members of his government were believed to be involved in it, according to political experts in the UK.
Labour, led by Jeremy Corbyn, had passed a resolution at its 2019 annual meeting. The resolution declared a humanitarian crisis in Kashmir and also stressed that Kashmir should be given the right to take its own decision. When India opposed the proposal, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, who will now take over as Britain’s Prime Minister, made it clear that Kashmir was a mutual issue between India and Pakistan. Former Labour MP Virendra Sharma believes that India-UK relations will grow under Starmer’s rule.
The last parliament had six Labour MPs of Indian origin. This time, that number is expected to double. Starmer is believed to be a balanced and practical leader in international politics. Relations between Britain and India soured under the Labour Party government. The reason for this is the tendency of the Labour Party to pursue a foreign policy based on values. Such policy places more emphasis on issues such as human rights. In addition, the Labour Party wanted to please many voters. There are about 15 lakh people of Indian origin living in the UK. At the same time, about 12 lakh people of Pakistani descent also live there. In addition, such organisations are also active in the UK that challenge India’s sovereignty. Apart from these, the wider political and geopolitical changes in the world can also have an adverse impact on India-UK relations. When Jeremy Corbyn was leader of the Labour Party, his relations with India deteriorated.
If the Labour Party government makes improving relations with India a part of its agenda, then signing a free trade agreement with India will be the top priority for UK’s newly elected Prime Minister. According to political experts, Kier Starmer wants to complete the India-UK free trade agreement as soon as possible, for which he will visit India at the end of July. The two countries have already reached an agreement on 26 issues. One of the major hurdles in the way of signing a free trade agreement with India is the issue of work permits for Indian workers who have settled in the UK. The Labour Party’s clear aim is to reduce the number of legal immigrants and prevent illegal immigrants from entering the UK.
Many legal Indian immigrants living in the UK are professionals working in the IT sector. They live in the UK on a work permit and have made significant contributions to the UK’s technology sector. However, some illegal Indian immigrants also live in the UK. The Labour Party’s policy is to strike a balance between taking financial advantage of the skills of these migrants while reducing the total number of migrants. Of the 6.85 lakh migrants living in the UK, people of Indian origin are the largest, and the UK needs more skilled professionals. At the same time, they want these skilled people to come not only from India but also from other countries. The Labour Party has often criticised India and other countries over human rights issues. If Kier Starmer wants to establish good relations with India, he will have to convince the Indian government that he will adopt a more practical foreign policy. The last parliament had 15 MPs of Pakistan origin, while there were six Indian origin MPs. Clearly, the Labour Party government will be under pressure from people of Pakistani descent. It remains to be seen how the new British government strikes a balance between the two.