Last week, Keir Starmer paid a quick visit to the White House. His mission? To encourage President Biden to allow Ukraine to use western-made long-range missiles, to strike deep into Russian territory.
This decision was quickly ‘delayed’, however, as soon as Putin pointed out that such an act would amount to a declaration of war with Russia – a question that seemed to be of little concern to both Starmer and Biden.
In an attempt to save face, the equally hawkish British foreign secretary David Lammy made clear that western leaders “would not be bullied” by Putin, and later accused him of “shameless grandstanding”. The Russian President must be quaking in his boots!
Billions for bloodshed
Since sauntering into Number 10, Starmer has been consistently banging the war drums. Within days of Labour’s election victory, he jetted off to the NATO summit, where he pledged £87bn per year on ‘defence’ spending by the end of the decade.
And, on top of the £12.5bn that Britain has already lavished on the Ukrainian war effort, the Prime Minister has promised to send £3bn a year in military support to the Kyiv regime for good measure.
‘Sir’ Keir has made it clear from the get-go that he will continue his Tory predecessors’ spotless record of championing British imperialism and militarism.
At the same time, Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves has spent the past month warning about the dire state of the UK economy.
Blaming an alleged £22bn “black hole” in the public finances, this big-business government is preparing an onslaught of harsh austerity measures.
The first shot of this Dickensian budget has already been fired. Starmer has recently attacked pensioners, with cuts to the winter fuel allowance saving a mere £1.5bn – just half of what is sent to fuel death and destruction in Ukraine.
When it comes to freezing the elderly, “tough decisions” must be made. But when it comes to defending the interests of western imperialism, Starmer is happy to hand over a blank cheque.
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Support for genocide
This is all before even mentioning Labour’s continued support for Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
Starmer’s government has made a big show of suspending 30 arms export deals. But this is a drop in the ocean compared to the 350 military-related contracts between the two countries.
Components for F-35 fighter jets, for example, which Britain sends to Israel, and which are used to rain hell upon the people of Gaza, are not affected whatsoever by these restrictions. The IDF also continues to use British military bases in the region.
At the United Nations this week, meanwhile, the UK government shamefully abstained on a General Assembly resolution demanding that Israel end its illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The UK’s ambassador gave a mealy-mouthed excuse for Britain’s refusal to back the Palestinian-drafted motion. But the fact is that every bomb dropped, hospital destroyed, and bullet fired by Israeli forces has been undersigned by the western imperialists.
He may attempt to distance himself from the slaughter in words. But in deeds, Starmer is just as complicit in the genocide in Gaza as the rest of them. His hands are covered in blood.
Books not bombs!
As the anniversary of 7 October approaches, we will no doubt hear a deafening chorus in the bosses’ media about Israel’s ‘right to defend itself’, as well as calls for a ‘day of mourning’.
Starmer may even go as far as to pay lip service to the Palestinian people, with vague mentions of peace, or support for the recognition of a Palestinian state – at some point in the indefinite future.
In the meantime, of course, we (read: British imperialism) must maintain our undying support for the Zionist state.
Starmer’s posturing is all just window dressing; an attempt to mask the ghastly face of British imperialism which, along with the rest of the western warmongers, is to blame for the destruction and slaughter in both Ukraine and Gaza.
With their endless sabre-rattling, the war criminals in Washington and Westminster are playing with fire. They are blithely threatening the very future of humanity.
This is all that the capitalist system – including its most enthusiastic representatives, like ‘Sir’ Starmer – have to offer: imperialism, war, and bloodshed abroad; and brutal austerity and attacks on living conditions back home.
We say:
- No trust in Starmer’s Labour!
- For books, not bombs! For healthcare, not warfare!
- Overthrow the war criminals! Overthrow imperialism!View this post on Instagram
