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William Hague has been making waves in the news in his position as Shadow Foreign Secretary for the Conservatives. With a victory for the Tories in the next election looking ever more likely, Linda Haywood probed the views of the former party leader. Read the third in the set of serialised articles here:

Families are now coping with rising fuel and food costs, mortgages are being refused and banking credit is shrinking. Politicians are noticeably changing their policies in response. David Cameron is now promoting thrift rather than championing green issues. Gordon Brown has even gone so far as to suggest Britons stop wasting their food. Against this backdrop William Hague defends the importance of the global arena in the domestic consciousness:

With the downturn in the British economy, how important do you think foreign policy issues will be in the next election?

I think voters have realised that as our world becomes ever more globalised and connected a country’s interaction with the international community by way of its foreign policy becomes ever more significant. In America foreign policy issues such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the fight against international terrorism are huge issues and I hope that British voters will regard the foreign policy ideas that I and the Conservative Party have developed over recent years as reflective of our country’s values and principles and vote accordingly.

The European Union is an issue that has long divided the Conservative Party. David Cameron is leading a cautious Euro-sceptic policy but what does the MP for Richmondshire make of the latest thinking on Europe? :

As a Eurosceptic, how far would you withdraw from the European Union? Would Briton’s freedom of movement and labour rights abroad be affected?

Although the Conservative Party is vehemently opposed to shifting power from the nation state to EU institutions and ever deeper integration, we do not advocate withdrawal from the European Union. In actual fact we are the strongest advocates of a European Union where nations work together in a way that strengthens our economies, empowers our consumers and turn our common values into effective action on the great issues facing our world today such as climate change and global poverty. Under our proposals British people’s freedom of movement and labour rights would not be affected.

The guarantee of EU citizenship may become more important as Britons take advantage of cheaper living costs abroad. In a reversal of the Polish migration to Britain, young British people may well find themselves priced out of the UK by the lack of mortgages, affordable housing, affordable fuel or affordable food. Such people may well be lured by cheaper living on the continent.