UK quietly shifts away from promise of 'deep' foreign and security links with EU

Little-discussed reversal of thinking means plans for formal co-operation look dead

Plans for the UK to re-establish formal foreign and security policy links with the European Union, frozen during negotiations over a trade deal, may never be revived, as UK foreign policy focuses on bilateral links in Europe and developing new alliances in the Indo-Pacific and Middle East.

The freeze marks a little-discussed reversal of thinking from Theresa May's era, when the political declaration at the time of Britain's withdrawal spoke about negotiating deep cooperation between the UK and EU.