BRITAIN must “prepare for peace not more war,” communists have warned amid government plans to increase military spending through “draconian cuts” to public services and welfare.

Speaking at the Communist Party of Britain’s executive committee meeting over the weekend, Kevan Nelson criticised Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s commitment to boosting military budgets, warning that it would add £13 billion to the £54bn already spent annually on arms.

The CP international secretary said: “Starmer’s Nato B-team summit in London talks about peace in Ukraine, while preparing to prolong the war with or without the USA.”

He highlighted that British and European Nato members had worked to undermine peace efforts, citing former PM Boris Johnson’s role in sabotaging the 2022 Istanbul negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.

Mr Nelson said it is highly unlikely that the summit could produce a durable settlement in Ukraine, with Russia opposing the “phoney posturing” of British and French proposals to deploy military forces in Ukraine as part of a “security guarantee.”

“Why would President Putin accept yet more Nato garrisons on Russia’s borders?” he asked.

“Keir Starmer is attempting to ride two horses at once.

“Yet neither Nato, some new European military alliance, nor a second cold war against China, will meet the needs of millions of people for affordable housing and energy, decent pensions and benefits, a first-class NHS and secure and well-paid jobs.”

Meanwhile, the government has dismissed suggestions of an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.

After Britain’s ambassador to Washington suggested that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should call for a ceasefire, Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard rejected this as “not government policy.”

France has proposed a one-month truce, but Downing Street insists any peace deal must be “lasting, durable, and ensure Ukraine’s defensive capabilities.”