Politics : Peace activists warn against dangerous rise in militarism

CAMPAIGNERS warned against an Establishment militarism drive as they accused former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt of being “very naive” for thinking more spending on the armed forces would keep people safe.

Government ministers and opposition politicians have been told not to follow calls by former Jeremy Hunt to increase Britain’s military spending by more than 50 per cent.

The Peace Pledge Union (PPU) said that raising military spending would not help Ukrainians, deter Vladimir Putin or make people in Britain any safer.

Writing in Saturday’s Daily Telegraph, Mr Hunt had urged the government to increase defence spending to the same proportion of GDP as the United States.

This would mean an increase of more than 50 per cent in the British military budget.

Last year, as part of its defence review, Global Britain in a Competitive Age, the government pledged a 14 per cent hike in military spending, the largest increase for almost 70 years, plus a 44 per cent increase in the nation’s nuclear stockpile.

PPU campaigns manager Symon Hill said: “It is very naive to imagine you can solve deep-seated problems with guns and bombs.

“Hunt claims that increased military spending would promote ‘freedom’.

“But while he rightly condemns Putin’s atrocities in Ukraine, he is happy for British troops to provide military training to Saudi forces committing similar atrocities in Yemen.”

Mr Symon added that peace “will come about not through the simplistic calls of headline-grabbing politicians but by the hard work and determination of ordinary people around the world.”

Chris Nineham of Stop the War told the Star: “This country is already one of the biggest spenders on defence.

“Millions of people in this country are going to face massive increases in their bills so we need more spending on benefits and the NHS and help for people to pay their fuel bills.”

Jamshid Ahmadi of Liberation said that “an increase in the already huge military budget will only benefit a more hawkish and interventionist foreign policy stance.”

Peace and Justice Project founder and Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn told the Star contrasted British media coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine with near silence over the Saudi war on Yemen, proving themselves “incapable of also reporting the war in Yemen, fuelled by British arms.”

Meanwhile, as more allegations emerge about the role of the Prime Minister in the appointment of Evgeny Lebedev to the House of Lords, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Boris Johnson has “serious questions to answer.”

According to reports, the PM was warned about granting a peerage to Lord Lebedev by British intelligence.

“The Prime Minister has got serious questions to answer: what did he know? And did he override security advice?” Sir Keir said.

Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, said: “Lord Lebedev has been critical of Vladimir Putin’s actions.”

Speaking of Mr Johnson’s authority, Sir Keir said that he still believed the PM has “lost the moral authority to lead” the country but “I have to say that just at the moment, my total focus is on the Ukraine and what we have to do in response to the Russian aggression there.”