London is planning to set up new military bases in the Caribbean and in Southeast Asia after it completes the Brexit process, The Sunday Telegraph reported, citing British Secretary of State of Defence Gavin Williamson. He reportedly called Brexit "the biggest moment" for the UK since the end of the Second World War and said that it would allow London to "recast ourselves in a different way" and "play the role on the world stage that the world expects [the UK] to play".
"For so long — literally for decades — so much of our national view point has actually been coloured by a discussion about the European Union. This is our moment to be that true global player once more", he said.
The secretary of defence further stated that leaving the EU would allow the UK to forge deeper ties with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, as well as with Caribbean and African states.
An anonymous source close to Williamson earlier told the newspaper that new bases could be stationed in Singapore or Brunei, and on Montserrat Island or in Guyana within the next few years.
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The UK currently has 15 overseas military bases, including on the Falkland Islands, in Cyprus, Canada, Gibraltar and the British Indian Ocean Territory, but British forces are due to leave their German base in 2019.