Labour's nuclear jets plan will make 'world more dangerous'
On Wednesday, the UK Government announced it will buy 12 F35A jets, which can carry conventional weapons but can also be equipped with nuclear bombs.
Downing Street has called the move the "biggest strengthening" of Britain's posture "in a generation", while Keir Starmer said the UK "can no longer take peace for granted".
READ MORE: Scottish Enterprise to keep funding Israel-linked arms firms, Kate Forbes says
The Prime Minister is currently gathered with leaders of other Nato leaders – including US president Donald Trump – in the Hague, where they formally agreed a 5% of GDP defence and security spending pledge.
The move has drawn criticism, with the Scottish Greens arguing that it would "make the world ever more dangerous".
The party's co-leader, Patrick Harvie, accused Labour of supporting "unilateral rearmament" as he said the money could have been used to address "genuine security needs" and the cost of living crisis.
He told The National: 'Nuclear weapons are incapable of discriminating between military and civilian targets. Their use would cause mass murder and environmental damage on a scale never seen before, and would amount to the biggest war crime in human history.
'They are also wildly expensive, having already cost the country hundreds of billions of pounds which could have been used to address the genuine security needs the world has, or on tackling the cost of living crisis that is plunging thousands of families into totally avoidable poverty.
'Labour used to tell us how responsible they were being, supporting multilateral disarmament. Now it's clear that they want the opposite - unilateral rearmament. This will make the world ever more dangerous."
READ MORE: Donald Trump no longer meeting King in Scotland ahead of state visit
Meanwhile, the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) said the UK Government's decision "totally contradicts the spirit of the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty" (NPT), an international treaty which aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and promotes disarmament.
The UK is one of 191 state parties signed up to the NPT, as is the United States.
The Scottish CND said that the planned system "locks in the UK's dependence on the USA".
"This is already obvious in our government's muted response to the illegal bombing of Iran by the USA and of the multiple illegal acts of Israel in Gaza and Iran, our government's failure to end all UK military support to the Israeli military or to ensure that UK manufactured arms are completely unavailable to Israeli use," a statement from CND said.
The group went on: "In Scotland, we already live with the fear of catastrophic nuclear accidents and the knowledge that our land and sea is used to threaten world destruction despite our wish to face the world in friendship.
"Nuclear weapons are indiscriminate, inhumane, genocidal and ecocidal, all of which contradicts the international laws that prohibit indiscriminate targeting of civilians and the infrastructures and ecosystems needed for life. This is not in our name."
READ MORE: Why support for electoral reform is at a record high in the UK
South of the Border, defence minister Maria Eagle addressed the Commons on the matter in an urgent question on Wednesday afternoon.
Addressing the minister, Ellie Chowns, Green MP for North Herefordshire, echoed concerns that the decision would tie the UK further to a US administration which "is the very definition of a loose cannon".
"The prospect of UK fighter jets carrying Donald Trump's nuclear bombs cannot be anybody's vision of security," Chowns said.
"This decision flies in the face of our obligations under the non-proliferation treaty, it ties us further into a US military that cannot even keep its own classified intelligence secure, it ties us further to a Trump administration that is the very definition of a loose cannon."
She asked the minister: "Given the inescapable truth that nuclear weapons make the world more dangerous, that normalising tactical weapons is incredibly reckless, how can she possibly justify this decision?"
Eagle responded by stating that the announcement was compliant with the NPT, to which Chowns could be seen shaking her head.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Guardian
21 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Immigration reforms for ‘complete reset' to be introduced in Parliament
New rules to be laid in Parliament on Tuesday will also seek to increase salary and skills thresholds up to degree level for skilled workers, which will cut eligibility for 111 occupations. A new time-limited temporary shortage list will also be introduced until the end of 2026 for below degree level, where recruiting foreign workers is key to build critical infrastructure or industrial strategy. But those workers will no longer be able to bring their families and will not be entitled to salary and visa fee discounts. The legislative measures are the first policy changes to be introduced from the Government's Immigration White Paper to tighten controls and cut migration to the UK. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: 'We are delivering a complete reset of our immigration system to restore proper control and order, after the previous government allowed net migration to quadruple in four years. 'These new rules mean stronger controls to bring migration down, to restore order to the immigration system and to ensure we focus on investing in skills and training here in the UK.' The changes, if approved by MPs and peers, will come into force from July 22. Further measures from the White Paper such as increasing English language requirements and raising the immigration skills charge are also expected to be in place by the end of the year. The White Paper is aimed at reducing numbers, clamping down on abuses of the system and ending a reliance on cheap foreign labour. Home Office estimates indicate that changes from the plan could reduce the number of people coming to the UK by up to 100,000 per year, when looking at eight of its proposals including on study and work routes and a higher level of English language requirement. But the move to scrap care worker visas has sparked concerns from the sector, with GMB national officer Will Dalton describing the decision as 'potentially catastrophic' as the care sector was 'utterly reliant on migrant workers' and still had more than 130,000 vacancies across the country. The Home Office believes there are 40,000 potential members of staff originally brought over by 'rogue' providers who could work in the sector while UK staff are trained up. Transitional arrangements for overseas care workers already in the UK have also been set out on Tuesday, according to the department.
Spectator
22 minutes ago
- Spectator
Northern Ireland is still paying a heavy price for Brexit
This week heralds the arrival in Northern Ireland of yet more overregulation, bureaucratic overreach, and political incompetence. No, Keir Starmer isn't making an unannounced visit to Belfast. From this month, many thousands of food products imported from Great Britain to Northern Ireland will have to display warnings on their packaging highlighting that these goods are not to be brought into the European Union. The reason why is essentially a bungled Brexit deal for which thousands of business – and millions of customers – will pay the price. It is yet another reason for British firms to stop doing business in Northern Ireland The Windsor Framework – the result of the UK's Northern Ireland-focused post-Brexit legal agreement with the EU – ensured that Northern Ireland remained within the EU single market for goods. This meant that products can flow freely throughout the island as no hard border exists between Northern Ireland and the Republic. At least that's what was promised in theory. In reality, this soft border has made trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland increasingly difficult. Confusing and unworkable regulations have stymied the flow of goods to Northern Ireland as checks on arrival take an increasingly long time, packaging requirements are different, and costs are increased. From October 2023, meat products entering Northern Ireland had to be labelled as being 'Not for EU' in order to ensure they weren't being sold in the Republic of Ireland; these rules were expanded to include dairy products from October 2024. And now, from this month, the scope of these regulations will be drastically increased as the Windsor Framework's implementation reaches its final phase. Packaged fruit, vegetables, and herbs; fresh, frozen, and processed fish; honey; eggs; chilled, frozen, or shelf-stable composite products, such as ready meals and jars of sauce; all will be subject to new rules which change their packaging to ensure no Pot Noodle bound for Belfast is sold south of the border. This matters because it is yet another reason for British companies to stop doing business in Northern Ireland. As Stuart Machin, the CEO of Marks & Spencer, explained on Friday, this regulatory expansion just adds 'yet another layer of unnecessary costs and red tape for food retailers like M&S.' Machin went on to state that over a thousand more M&S products will require alternate packaging specifically tailored for Northern Ireland, while an additional four hundred products will have to undergo extra checks in what has become known as the 'Red Lane' – the customs channel for goods deemed at risk of entering the EU. In short, Machin said, it's 'bureaucratic madness'. All of these additional regulations in Northern Ireland undermine the idea of the Union, dissuading British businesses from offering goods and services in a constituent country of the United Kingdom. It has had a measurable impact, too, as the Office for National Statistics found recently. Between 2020 – the final year before the Northern Ireland Protocol on the Brexit withdrawal agreement came into effect – and the start of this year, the percentage of retail, wholesale, and car repair businesses in Great Britain which sold goods into Northern Ireland had decreased from 17.5 per cent to only 12.4 per cent; the percentage of manufacturing businesses which sold to Northern Ireland decreased from 20.1 per cent to 12.9 per cent. The issue of the effectual trade border in the Irish Sea is a politically contentious one in Northern Ireland. It highlights the difference in treatment of people in Northern Ireland compared with the rest of the United Kingdom – raising questions about whether the initial idea of Brexit as 'taking back control' ever materialised. Jim Allister, a Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) MP, and one of the fiercest critics of the Windsor Framework, said that British businesses 'will have to play by EU rules to trade within their own country. That's a fundamental breach of sovereignty.' I spoke to another elected representative from the TUV about the new rules, who decried them as little more than 'ridiculous and unnecessary bureaucracy forced upon us', highlighting that 'Northern Ireland did not get the Brexit the United Kingdom voted for as a nation'. Many of these issues could quite easily be solved if a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal were to be signed between the UK and the EU; this would align the regulations between the two bodies and make trade easier. Naturally, however, this also goes against the ideals of what Brexit was portrayed to be, as while it doesn't exactly hand over our sovereignty on the issue, it does ensure the UK and EU are treading the same line. Labour announced a deal on this back in May, however this has yet to materialise and negotiations are, allegedly, still ongoing. Given Starmer's record of negotiating, it is not difficult to imagine how little say we might have over our own internal trade regulations as a result; the Prime Minister is no stranger to dismantling British sovereignty, as Chagos and Gibraltar show. In the mean time, internal trade within the United Kingdom is likely to get harder before it gets easier. If the past decade of politicians were supposed to be acting in favour of British interests, they are doing a good job of hiding it.
South Wales Guardian
23 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Scheme to register foreign agents comes into force but China avoids top tier
The new Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (Firs) comes into effect from Tuesday, requiring anyone carrying out 'political influence activities' on behalf of a foreign power to register with the Government or face prosecution. The rules, which cover activities such as political communications or lobbying, were introduced in 2023 as part of efforts to strengthen national security amid concerns about covert action by foreign governments. Security minister Dan Jarvis said: 'We welcome legitimate engagement with all countries, but we will not tolerate covert attempts to manipulate our political system or society. 'The Foreign Influence Registration Scheme gives us the tools to confront growing threats to our national security, one of the foundations of our plan for change, without compromising the openness that defines our democracy.' The new rules also include an 'enhanced tier', which requires anyone working for certain states to declare any activity, not just political work. Mr Jarvis said: 'This is about creating accountability and visibility so that covert influence operations have nowhere to hide, and ensuring we have the tools to detect and disrupt them.' Failing to register with Firs carries a maximum sentence of two years, or five years for agents of states in the enhanced tier. So far, only Iran and Russia have been placed in the enhanced tier, with both nations accused of operating covertly in the UK to shape public opinion and intimidate opponents. But despite calls from some MPs to include China in the enhanced tier, Russia and Iran remain the only nations on the list. Beijing has been repeatedly accused of seeking to covertly influence British politics and academia. A 2023 report by Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee found China had engaged in 'aggressive' interference, including seeking to 'penetrate or buy academia to ensure that its international narrative is advanced and criticism of China suppressed.' Following the announcement in April that Russia would be included in the enhanced tier, Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said it was 'astonishing' that China had not received similar treatment and accused the Government of 'prioritising economic links over national security'. At the time, Mr Jarvis replied that the Government had a 'consistent long-term and strategic approach' to the UK's relationship with China. He added: 'The Government's policy is clear – we will co-operate where we can, compete where we need to and challenge where we must, including on issues of national security.'
