Ethical Foreign Policy Part 1
Britain the Peacemaker: Ending Arms Exports
A New Moral Compass for the 21st Century
For too long, Britain and other major powers have spoken of peace while profiting from war. Weapons sold under the guise of “defence” have fuelled genocide, terrorism, ethnic cleansing, and state repression. Corporations grow rich while children die in wars they did not start and cannot escape.
The British Democratic Alliance believes that ethical governance begins with ethical foreign policy. It is time to sever the link between profit and death, and to take a principled stand as a nation—not for empire, not for money, but for peace, human dignity, and global justice.
- Policy Pillar One: A Total Ban on Arms Exports
Key Provisions:
- The United Kingdom shall prohibit all arms exports, including:
- Direct weapons systems
- Ammunition and explosives
- Military vehicles and aircraft
- Surveillance and targeting technologies
- Dual-use components intended for military application
- It shall be illegal to facilitate arms sales through:
- Intermediary nations
- Shell companies or foreign-registered subsidiaries
- Trade partnerships or logistical support arrangements
This ban shall be universal, without exemption for allies or economic benefit.
- Policy Pillar Two: Zero Tolerance for Non-State Armed Actor Support
Immediate Consequences for Nations That:
- Arm non-state actors (militias, rebel groups, insurgents, terrorist entities)
- Supply intelligence to non-state actors
- Arm nation-states known to supply non-state actors
Shall include:
- Immediate suspension of all UK diplomatic contact
- Cessation of all trade, financial transactions, and dual-use cooperation
- Full travel bans on all officials, military staff, intelligence officers, and corporate entities associated with the offending regime
This applies equally to all nations, including historic allies, regardless of political system.
- Policy Pillar Three: Ethical Trade, Travel, and Communications Sanctions
The UK shall sever all trade, travel, and communication ties with countries that:
- Repress or persecute their populations on the basis of ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, or nationality
- Operate closed or authoritarian regimes that deny due process, restrict freedoms, or persecute dissent
- Use mass surveillance, arbitrary detention, or military policing against civilians
- Conduct media blackouts, censorship, or propaganda campaigns that suppress truth
Travel Sanctions (Zero Tolerance):
- UK citizens shall be prohibited by law from travelling to or through any designated banned nation, directly or indirectly, regardless of reason.
- Travel to a banned nation will become a criminal offence, punishable by fine or imprisonment.
- Includes transit through intermediary states if the final destination is a banned state.
- Citizens of banned nation states shall be barred from entering the United Kingdom under any circumstance, including for tourism, business, study, or asylum.
- All visas, residence permits, and migration applications from citizens of banned nations will be automatically denied or revoked.
- Airlines and transport operators that breach these bans will face severe financial penalties and blacklisting.
- UK-based organisations and businesses shall be prohibited from operating in, or accepting funding from, any entities within the banned nation or owned by nationals of banned nations.
- Dual citizens and permanent residents of the UK who also hold citizenship of a banned nation will be subject to enhanced security review, and may be denied travel rights, consular access, or specific financial services as necessary for national security.
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Policy Pillar Four: The Foreign Policy of Peace and Reconstruction
All redirected funds from arms exports will support:
- Post-conflict reconstruction
- Medical and psychological aid to war victims
- Democracy-building programmes
- Peace education, reconciliation, and dialogue training
The UK will lead global advocacy for:
- A UN Arms Export Abolition Treaty
- An International Blacklist of Corporate Arms Traders
- A Non-Exporting Nations Alliance to name, shame, and sanction states profiting from war
- Oversight, Transparency and Public Accountability
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- A permanent Parliamentary Committee on Arms Ethics and Foreign Policy, with:
- Full public transparency
- The power to investigate, audit, and publicly report arms policy violations
- A permanent Parliamentary Committee on Arms Ethics and Foreign Policy, with:
- A citizen-led advisory board to oversee human rights compliance and ensure the public remains informed and engaged
- Conclusion: Morality or Nothing
A nation without ethics in its governance cannot claim to be moral. The British Democratic Alliance believes that Britain must once again become a beacon of principle, not just power—a nation that leads not with bombs, but with laws, values, and humanity.
This is not idealism. It is survival—for our dignity, for our democracy, and for our future in a world where the next war, the next famine, or the next atrocity must no longer bear our fingerprints.