Lammy signs new economic agreement with Morocco

Sir Keir Starmer’s government has announced a major change in UK foreign policy in exchange for an economic deal with one of the continent’s fastest-growing economies.

- DAVID MADDOX

Since the end of Spanish rule in 1975, there has been a longrunning territorial dispute between Morocco and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (Polisario Front) over a region known as Western Sahara.

Britain has so far stayed out of the controversy. But now, after five decades, the British government has agreed for the first time to join Israel, France and Germany in supporting the north African kingdom’s claim to the territory. The deal puts British companies at the front of the queue to deliver infrastructure for the 2030 Fifa World Cup as well as other major projects.