Skip to content

The foreign policy challenges Labour can't ignore

August 14, 2026 · 29 min

Show notes

Britain's new prime minister Andy Burnham is not known for his interest in foreign affairs, but foreign affairs are eternally and often unforgivingly interested in Britain.

What should Burnham and his new foreign secretary Ed Miliband prioritise on the global front? How can they balance the urgent demands of defence, climate action, resetting relations with the EU and Britain's place in the wider world? And who is going to pay for it all?

To discuss what should be on Burnham and Miliband's to-do lists, Bronwen Maddox is joined by Olivia O'Sullivan, director of Chatham House's UK in the World Programme, and Owen Jenkins, research director for Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

Produced by Podmasters, with thanks to Stephen Farrell and Sara Seth.

Explore Chatham House's latest:

Video | Burning questions facing Burnham

Comment | Why Carney's pipeline gamble is a bad bet for Canadian taxpayers

Comment | Zambia's election: President Hichilema must preserve his country's democratic reputation

Magazine issue | The World Today summer issue

Audio | The Climate Briefing🎧

Audio | Africa Aware🎧

Follow Independent Thinking on your favourite podcast apps.

All episodes of Independent Thinking

Settings

Display

Language

Decides which stations you see first on the home page.

History

Recently played stations and episodes and your latest searches are only stored in this browser.

Notifications

A short notice when a podcast you follow has a new episode. Turn off single podcasts with the bell on their page.

Account

Save favorites – in the app and on the website.

Keyboard shortcuts

/
Open search
Space
Play or pause
← →
In the player: back 15 s, forward 30 s (episodes) · in a row: next tile
↑ ↓
In a row: target within the tile
Home / End
In a row: first or last tile
Esc
Close window or menu
?
This overview
Now playing

Go to station page

Play next

    Add episodes with “Play next” – they play after the current episode.