Keir Starmer has made very clear that his priority is extra spending on the military, and that this overrides any legislation to help the poor and needy. In a keynote speech on June 3rd, he promised to make the British military “fit to fight” and that “No policy commitment in pursuit of Labour’s missions matters unless we uphold the first duty of any government: to keep the country safe. Peace and security are hard earned. They require constant vigilance.”
He went on further to endorse Britain’s nuclear deterrent. After all, it was the Labour government led by Clement Attlee in 1945 that first decided to develop nuclear weapons. Labour supported the supported the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty and the creation of NATO. The Labour ‘left’ Nye Bevan enthusiastically supported both the nuclear weapons programme and NATO., saying that the call for unilateral nuclear disarmament was “an emotional spasm” that would send a Labour foreign secretary “naked into the conference chamber.”
Starmer said: “Our commitment to the UK’s nuclear deterrent is absolute. It is a vital safeguard for the UK and our NATO allies. As the party that founded NATO, we maintain our unshakeable commitment to the alliance, and we will apply a NATO test to major defence programmes to ensure we meet our obligations in full.”
He sketched out how much he would commit to military spending, saying “Labour will conduct a Strategic Defence Review within our first year in government, and we will set out the path to spending 2.5 percent of GDP on defence.”
The commitment of the new Labour government could cost up to £209 billion. Labour is quite prepared to carry this through, whilst failing to fund the NHS and social spending.
Starmer endorsed Britain’s booming arms trade, which exports not just bombs, arms, and ammunition to vicious regimes worldwide, but implements to control and repress rebellious and unruly populations. Starmer said that: “We will prioritise UK businesses for defence investment and will reform procurement to reduce waste. Labour will support industry to benefit from export opportunities, in line with a robust arms export regime committed to upholding international law.”
Starmer re-emphasised this commitment to the military at the recent NATO conference, affirming “enduring and unwavering commitment to the NATO alliance”, with Britain playing “a full role” in it, underlining Britain as a junior partner to the USA , stressing once again that 2.5% of GDP on defence was “essential” not just for Britain, but for all NATO members. and Britain will play “a full role” in the alliance, and that Britain “belongs on the world stage.”