The UK-Mexico Partnership in 2025
Good morning everyone. It’s great to be here at Canning House’s inaugural Mexico-UK Summit. Canning House plays a hugely important role in bringing the UK and Mexico closer together.
I would therefore like to begin by thanking Jeremy Browne and his team for organising this Summit and fostering the valuable exchange of ideas between business, government and academia.
As many of you will know, I arrived in Mexico at the end of last year so I am now just a few months into my posting as British Ambassador to Mexico. And what a time to arrive. A new government in Mexico and a new government in the UK. A world that is changing more rapidly than any of us could have predicted. Let me start therefore by talking about the bilateral opportunity, before coming on to how the UK and Mexico can work together on the global stage.
The relationship between the UK and Mexico dates back over 200 years. One of the first things I did in my role here was accompany the High Sheriff of Cornwall to Hidalgo where British miners – from Cornwall – first arrived in the 19th century, drawn by the opportunities that Mexico offered. They brought with them football and Cornish pasties – both of which live on to this day, although the pasties turn out to be a little more picante than we are used to them in Cornwall.
The first record of a football match being played in Mexico was between those Cornish miners and the Mexicans who lived in Hidalgo. On that occasion – for perhaps the first and last time – the Brits beat the Mexicans. And this is a nice anecdote but actually, it’s more than that. It’s evidence of the culture and history that continue to bind us today.
In fact, our rich cultural and people-to-people links are one of the most important aspects of this relationship whether it’s the numerous Mexicans who play in the English Premier League, the more than 3000 Mexican students have been awarded Chevening scholarships since 1983, or the fact that the largest number of Beatlemaniacs in the world are not in fact in the UK but are right here in Mexico.
But the policy agenda is – perhaps – even more exciting. When the new government in the UK was elected last summer, it was on the basis of a number of very clear priorities – or missions as the PM has described them. These include
- Reducing barriers to opportunity for all
- Building a health system fit for the future
- Making the UK a green energy super power by 2030
- And kickstarting economic growth.
I have been struck in my first few months here, how much of that agenda resonates with what the government in Mexico is trying to achieve. In the language we use and in the priorities we choose, there is much alignment between our approaches.
The growth agenda
Let me start by talking about economic growth. Growth is at the heart of the UK government’s agenda because – like Mexico – the British government has made important commitments around addressing social inequality. To meet these ambitious commitments, it will be essential for us both to have thriving economies.
So all British diplomats have been given clear marching orders we must do all we can to build economic prosperity for the UK but also for the countries in which we are working.
And what does that mean here? Well, trade between the UK and Mexico is good Our markets are complementary, so we are not in competition with each other, and we have an more or less equally balanced trading relationship.
But we can afford to be much more ambitious two way trade is currently worth around £6.1bn a year – as two G20 countries, both committed to open and free trade – this should and could be much higher. It is in both of our interests to ensure that it is, if we are to build the equitable and prosperous societies we are both seeking.
The first step on this journey will be Mexican ratification of the UK’s accession to CPTPP which we hope will happen shortly. This will accelerate growth by deepening British and Mexican participation in our respective supply chains. It will diversify our trade in innovative sectors such as electromobility, health-tech and advanced manufacturing and will provide greater certainty to UK investors in Mexico and Mexican investors wanting to set up and grow their business in the UK.
At the same time, a new industrial strategy in the UK and Plan Mexico here will drive growth in both our countries in sectors of mutual interest and expertise, among them healthcare and life sciences, financial services, and education. We must grasp this opportunity.
There is much success to build upon last year we saw innovative British bank Revolut secure their banking licence in Mexico. Astrazeneca opened their second largest global research plant in Jalisco. Orbia expanded their presence in the UK with an additional £75m investment, creating 100 new jobs.
These are just a small selection of success stories from the last twelve months. I am confident that there will be many more to come driven by a determination from both our governments to put sustainable growth at the heart of our plans.
Climate
The second area where I see enormous potential is on climate and energy. I am delighted that Minister for Environment, Alicia Barcena will speak later in the day. Minister Barcena has been a great friend of the UK as well as a champion of our shared commitment to tackling the climate and nature emergency.
This is one of the most profound threats to face us and future generations. We must work together to ensure a liveable planet for all. Our future prosperity and security depends on what we do now.
For the British government, combatting climate change and biodiversity loss must be done alongside eradicating social inequality. We believe firmly that this can be achieved without compromising economic growth. In fact, done right, we believe that the energy transition can be an economic advantage. As testament to this, I offer the fact that in the UK we have reduced emissions by 54% whilst also growing our GDP by 84% on 1990 levels.
Under the leadership of President Sheinbaum and Prime Minister Starmer we have an unparalleled opportunity to deepen our cooperation in this area.
When I presented my credentials to the President some two weeks ago, I congratulated her for her leadership on Mexico’s NDC commitment and the newly announced Net Zero goal. The UK stands ready to offer any support that we can in their development and implementation.
Our vision to do this is one where there’s space for every part of society to contribute and benefit from ambitious climate action. We have, for instance, worked with local communities and civil society in Sonora to pilot solar energy projects, increasing access to electricity and diversifying sources of income for families.
And our scientific and academic links are also a fundamental asset to tackle climate change. Mexican and British research institutions are working together to deploy solutions to manage sargassum proliferation, which has greatly impacted the tourism industry in Mexico and many Caribbean nations.
And there’s, of course, the role of private sector. No climate target will ever be met without industries and financiers actively playing a part in addressing the climate and biodiversity crisis. Private investment in innovative technologies such as offshore wind energy will be essential to boost renewable energy generation in Mexico whilst ensuring the protection of energy sovereignty. Many British companies are keen to be part of this journey.
While the task might feel unsurmountable at times, I am convinced that by working together, Mexico and the UK can bring us closer to building a liveable, more equitable planet for all.
The Global Context
Now let me come on and talk a bit about the global context. Of course, to ensure that prosperous democracies like ours can thrive we need geopolitical stability. Across the world we are living in uncertain times with brutal conflicts still waging in Sudan, the Middle East and Ukraine.
Mexico’s historic bridging role in multilateral fora means it is uniquely placed to bring countries together in support of our shared values of democracy, sovereignty and a commitment to human rights.
During my career, I have observed the vast experience and talent of Mexican diplomats in multilateral fora, sharing our concern to protect the institutions that ensure world peace. Their ability to bring together different points of view and chart a path forward that everyone can agree is part of Mexico’s USP one of my formative memories is of watching a Mexican diplomat rescue a biodiversity negotiation from the brink of collapse at the eleventh hour and find an almost impossible consensus.
In this increasingly complex world, we need this more than ever. Those countries that share our commitment to the rules based international order must continue working together to ensure that multilateral institutions remain strong and relevant.
For example, in February, the UK and Mexico united with other nations in the UN to mark the third anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The security threats we face have been transformed in the last decade. We are all confronting the unprecedented rate at which threats to information integrity are growing. Misinformation and disinformation are both more common than ever and increasingly difficult to distinguish from the truth.
As democratic governments, the UK and Mexico must be proactive about countering this threat. We also have a responsibility to uphold the principles of an open civil society and free media to take on this challenge. I’m proud therefore that here in Mexico we support a vibrant Civil Society Group ‘Las Linternas’ to strengthen their fact checking, identify false stories and build media literacy. Our resilience to these threats domestically depends – like so much else – on our ability to work together.
Conclusion
So there is much to do. Perhaps I’ll end where I began Lord Canning – after whom Canning House is named – was the first British foreign secretary, some 200 years ago, to devote a large proportion of his time and energies to Latin America and to foresee the important political and economic role the region would one day play.
We are once again at a moment of enormous geopolitical change. We too should choose to strengthen and trust in this bilateral relationship. Together I am confident that the UK and Mexico can do brilliant things.
Thank you.
