Conservatives for CANZUK launches

Britain’s post-Brexit future is yet to be discovered. However, the grassroots movement Conservatives for CANZUK have been established to spearhead and lead the campaign for a future close relationship with Britain’s closest Commonwealth partners: Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The group seeks to influence think tanks, Conservative MPs and members and Commonwealth colleagues to push forward a closer relationship with these nations.

CANZUK (Canada, Australia, New Zealand and UK) is a proposed team of nations seeking to trade freely, cooperate on the international stage with foreign policy and mobility of citizens within these four nations without an overreaching supranational government, thus allowing these nations to operate as sovereign nations.

This concept has been advocated by several organisations such as: CANZUK International, the Adam Smith Institute, the Henry Jackson Society and the Conservative Party of Canada with polling conducted in 2018 indicating 76% of Canadians, 73% of Australians, 82% of New Zealanders and 68% of Britons advocating for CANZUK with the question posed ‘Would you support or oppose similar rights for UK citizens to live and work in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with citizens of Canada, Australia and New Zealand granted reciprocal rights to live and work in the UK?’

With such high support amongst individuals of these states and with geopolitical conditions ripe for Britain to reach out into the world again post-Brexit, the Conservatives for CANZUK seek to gain traction within the party to influence policy-makers to adopt this foreign policy approach. This approach certainly is plausible with the Conservative Party of Canada formally adopting CANZUK as party policy as of 2018, to which Conservatives for CANZUK wish to replicate in the UK. Furthermore, CANZUK proposals are based upon the teachings from Brexit and the European Union, this proposed partnership would be free from overarching bureaucracy yet allowing freedom of trade and movement without infringing upon national sovereignty of these nations. This freedom of movement would follow the current Trans-Tasman Travel Agreement allowing travel for CANZUK passport holders without criminal records and serious health conditions with a 4 year period until such individuals are eligible for welfare payments thus ensuring a flexible labour market without negative externalities on the CANZUK nations.

As of now, Conservatives for CANZUK seek to grow and gather momentum within the party and aboard seeking new friends to further this cause and to shape post-Brexit Britain’s future and to reconnect with old friends across the world by making this proposal into a reality. This is the vision of Conservatives for CANZUK - a global Britain.