Stop the War is appalled by news the government is considering hiking defence spending to 3% of GDP within the next five years at a cost of £15 billion.
At the Munich Security Conference Keir Starmer said we need to ‘defend democracy’ and ‘our way of life’ and to do so we must dramatically speed up rearmament. On Monday he said defence spending ‘needs to go faster’ causing share prices in the arms industry to soar.
This is part of a massive European arms drive aimed at appeasing Trump as he demands Europe pay more for its own defence.
The additional cost comes at a time when we are told to accept cuts to pensions, to wages and to public services, while much of what is spent will go directly into the coffers of US arms manufacturers.
Last year Starmer agreed to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, with the ‘ambition’ to increase this to 3% in the next parliament and 3.5% by 2035. Now the government has indicated it wants to meet the 3% by the end of this parliament.
It is clear Europe is creating a climate in which war with Russia is more likely, a war where nuclear weapons could be used with catastrophic consequences.
Stop the War has been mobilising to oppose this push to war and the accompanying hike in military spending. We are building a mass movement against militarism. As part of this we are hosting a European Peace conference in London on 20 June, where we will be joined by trade unionist and anti-war activists from across Europe.