Jeremy Corbyn, MP for Islington North, speaking at the London
demonstration and rally in support of the Palestinian people, July 6

These days no one believes the promises made by either of the big cartel parties during the election will be fulfilled when it comes to taking office. However, it came as no surprise from statements made by Sir Keir Starmer during the election that the first visit abroad of the new Prime Minister was when he headed for the US and the NATO summit that took place in Washington, DC, between July 9-12. However, what was surprising was that this and the visit of his foreign secretary and defence secretary to Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Sweden and Israel - as well as Starmer meeting with Zelensky at the summit to agree he will continue to spend at least £3bn every year on military support for Ukraine for "as long as is it takes" - all took place in the twelve days even before Parliament was opened. Such is Parliamentary democracy that disempowers not only the people from such vital questions as financing war in Ukraine but even MPs elected to Parliament. And now we learn that Zelensky has been welcomed by Keir Starmer to Downing Street on July 19, addressing the Labour government Cabinet. This is an example of the executive riding roughshod over the electorate and a parliament in flux in no uncertain terms.

This first visit abroad of the new Prime Minister was to the US to meet with US President Biden before the summit, demonstrating once again that Starmer is a warmonger second to none. According The Guardian report [1] "as Keir Starmer arrived at the Oval Office, Joe Biden was at the door to meet him. 'Come on in, man', the US president told him. The invitation was not simply to enter the heart of the White House, but also the major league of world leaders." This was not the "league" of the people of course who demand a real change to Britain's foreign policy from that of the Conservatives. It was not the independent candidates, other MPs and all those in Britain demanding an end to Britain's support for the Israeli state's genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. Neither was it the people's stand against NATO's escalation of its proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and instead the backing of a peaceful settlement which has been advanced by at least three of the NATO countries Hungary, Slovakia and Turkey. Starmer's interviews at the summit, and the statement of the summit itself, show that it is clear already that little has changed to Britain's policy of direct interference abroad, in supplying arms, and escalating war at the head of the NATO alliance and alongside the US. It is a sign that the vantage point of Starmer's government, as was the Conservative's rule, is that the United States constitutes the indispensable nation in today's world. Such a stand can in fact only come about through a morbid preoccupation with defeat on a world scale. It is not the people's vantage point.

On this trip to the NATO summit the Prime Minister was accompanied by David Lammy, the foreign secretary, and John Healey, the defence secretary, who had published in advance an article in the Telegraph officially posted on the government website [2] entitled "This government will have a 'NATO first' defence strategy". Harking back to the founding of NATO by Ernest Bevin and the then Labour government who "brought 12 nations from Western Europe and North America together 75 years ago to create NATO", they try to use this stand that the Labour Government took in 1949, which was in reality to shatter the possibility of peace amongst all the anti-fascist allies and peoples of the world after the end of WWII, to now justify the new Labour government's continuing support the aggressive NATO alliance. This when it is Britain's support for NATO alongside the US which is the source of division and escalation of war today not just in Europe but across the globe in Africa, West and East Asia against China and the DPRK. They repeat the dangerous mantra that "Our government's commitment to NATO is therefore unshakeable. We will have a 'NATO first' defence strategy. European security will be our foreign and defence priority. Our commitment to Britain's nuclear deterrent is absolute."

Also, just prior to the NATO summit the Prime Minister's foreign secretary and defence secretary visited Ukraine, Germany, Poland and Sweden. Speaking about these trips they declare again without any reference to Parliament: "We have underlined this commitment within days of being appointed by our new Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with John travelling to Ukraine and David visiting Germany, Poland and Sweden. On these visits, our new government has increased support for Ukraine, including new military support -- a clear signal of our determination to outlast the Kremlin. ...In addition, we will increase spending to 2.5% of GDP on defence as soon as possible, whilst arguing all NATO allies should adopt this as a new defence target." But where is any consideration given to where all this is leading?

Following the NATO summit, foreign secretary David Lammy hurried to Israel to shake the hands of the war criminal Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu whilst Israeli war crimes and mass atrocities continue on a daily basis in Gaza and the West Bank. Lammy tried to make the excuse that he was there to "push for a ceasefire", urge the "release of all hostages held in Gaza", although not the 3,615 Palestinian people in "administrative detention" by Israel, where they are locked up indefinitely without charge or trial. He said he supported an "increase in the flow of aid to the territory" when clearly the Labour Party, and Keir Starmer in particular, had previously supported the blockade of Gaza including food and water.

This was another treacherous move by Starmer's cabinet against the peoples of the world who are standing with Palestine and particularly those countries that have taken the Israeli leaders to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the crime of genocide. That Lammy was really there to reassure Benjamin Netanyahu of Britain's continuing support was revealed further by facts that emerged.

While David Lammy had been shadow foreign secretary, it had been reported in The Guardian on June 23 that Labour would seek to implement an arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu if one were issued by the ICC. However, the previous Conservative government, whilst the general election was proceeding, made a legal submission to the ICC questioning whether the court has jurisdiction to issue warrants against Israelis. This has deliberately delayed the release of these arrest warrants. The Scottish Legal News reported on July 16 [3] following the Lammy visit to Israel that "the new Labour government is expected to maintain the previous administration's objections to proposed international arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials, according to an Israeli newspaper". They continue "that Geoffrey Robertson KC, writing in the paper, said the 'obvious reason why the foreign secretary should drop this benighted initiative is that it is a legal nonsense'. However, Israeli daily newspaper Maariv reports that UK foreign secretary David Lammy has since assured Israeli officials that it will maintain this position." This position is one putting the new Labour government once again on the side of genocide and not justice for the peoples of Palestine.

There is no change to be seen here in these reports. They show Starmer and the government he leads more zealous to prove themselves in the service of a US-led NATO alliance as well as supporting Israel and their unspeakable crimes. The peoples of Europe, who have suffered through two world wars, do not want war, or to have their countries turned into bases for Anglo-American warmongers and NATO. The world's peoples alongside the youth are demanding an end to this warmongering and to stop Anglo-US support for Israel and to stop Israeli war atrocities and genocide against the Palestinian people now.

As these early twelve days of the Starmer government came to an end, there is no surprise that on July 17 at the opening of Parliament there was not one mention made in the King's Speech that the government will strive to bring about a ceasefire and stop Israel's genocide in Palestine. There was also not one word about bringing about a peaceful end to NATO's proxy war in Ukraine against Russia. King Charles III said instead that his government "will endeavour to play a leading role in providing Ukraine with a clear path to NATO membership", in other words "a clear path" to endless war with Russia in Ukraine profitable only for British war industries. Starmer's vision, like Blair's, is one of dangerous escalation of war in the world in the service of Anglo-US interests.

It is important to emphasise that there is an alternative. British imperialist warmongering alongside the US must be brought to an end. It is not just that the anti-war movement is growing, but that the space for elaborating what an Anti-War Government entails and fighting for it is there to be occupied and expanded. This perspective is vital to the fight for a peaceful future based on the people's own vantage point. Such a stand is vital for the future peaceful development of the world under the control of the people themselves, empowered as decision-makers. The Starmers of this world will never convince the people that the imperialists' values are their values, the values of peace, freedom and democracy. The Labour government's crisis of legitimacy can only deepen. It is the people's voice and vision which must and will prevail in the face of this desperation of the warmongering of the big powers.

Fight for an Anti-War Government!
No to NATO! Yes to Peace!

Notes
1. Mr Starmer goes to Washington: how the PM made his world stage entrance - The Guardian July 12
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/12/keir-starmer-us-visit-washington-nato-summit
2. This government will have a 'NATO first' defence strategy: article by the Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary - July 9
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/this-labour-government-will-have-a-nato-first-defence-strategy-article-by-the-foreign-secretary-and-defence-secretary
3. New UK government may continue opposition to ICC arrest warrants for Israeli leaders - The Scottish Legal News July 16
https://www.scottishlegal.com/articles/new-uk-government-may-continue-opposition-to-icc-arrest-warrants-for-israeli-leaders

Link to Full Issue of Workers' Weekly

RCPB(ML) Home Page

Workers' Weekly Online Archive