IN the weeks since the general election, several high-profile events have enabled Prime Minister Keir Starmer to reassure Western imperialism’s ruling circles that there will be “no change” to British foreign policy.

For war not the poor

On July 9-11, at Nato’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington DC, Starmer voiced his enthusiastic support for continuing the war in Ukraine. Visiting Ukraine within 24 hours of his appointment as defence secretary, John Healey confirmed that Britain is supplying long-range Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine.

“That does not preclude them hitting targets in Russia,” he added, “but that must be done by the Ukrainians.”

This represents a highly disturbing escalation, coupled as it is with the call to put Britain on a “war footing.”

Starmer called on Nato allies to increase their military spending, committing his own government to begin raising it to 2.5 per cent of GDP following a strategic review of Britain’s armed forces later this year. This review will be led by Lord George Robertson, who has described Britain as facing a deadly quartet of enemies: China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

As the former secretary-general of Nato who oversaw the disastrous US-led invasion of Afghanistan, his distorted view is part of the drive to create a climate of fear, preparing the ground for a big hike in military spending.

Under Tory and Labour plans, this is set to reach around £87 billion a year by 2030, as sights are trained on China and arms industry profits keep rolling in.

Yet new Chancellor Rachel Reeves claims that between £2.5bn and £3.5bn a year can’t be found to remove the two-child benefit cap, which would lift up to a million or more children out of poverty and curb the cap’s cruel impact on many women and families.

Meanwhile, the British Medical Association estimates that the £1bn needed to settle the junior doctors’ pay claim is the same amount paid out by the Tory government in staff cover since NHS industrial action began in late 2022.

The Chancellor’s fiscal plans may soon face an additional challenge: pay review bodies are recommending above-inflation pay rises of 5.5 per cent for teachers and NHS staff. Substantial pay claims will follow in the rest of the public sector.

Trade union pressure for fair pay settlements can only grow.

Europe turns rightwards

On July 18, the European Political Community summit of heads of government from 43 EU and non-EU countries, hosted by Starmer at Blenheim Palace, provided a further opportunity to prolong the war in Ukraine. Migration and energy security were also on the agenda.

The political backdrop to this event was the EU Parliament elections on June 6-9. Far-right and neofascist parties made major gains in Germany, France, Austria and the Netherlands, causing consternation among Western ruling elites.

The Brothers of Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s party, more than doubled its seats, while the left did better in the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

The far-right shockwave was felt most severely in France, where Marine Le Pen’s National Rally received 10 million votes and more than 31 per cent of the poll, leaving President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance list trailing with less than 15 per cent.

Popular Front success

Rattled, Macron dissolved the French National Assembly and called a snap election.

This backfired spectacularly when National Rally took 33 per cent of the vote in the first round. Macron’s Ensemble coalition obtained 21 per cent, pushed into third place by the New Popular Front (NFP), a last-minute alliance of Jean-Luc Melenchon’s France Unbowed, the Socialist Party, the Greens and the French Communist Party, and which polled 28 per cent.

In the second round run-off on July 7, NFP candidates won 182 seats, the Ensemble coalition 163 and National Rally 143. The sharp choice between two distinct camps produced the highest turnout of electors since 1997.

This was undoubtedly a victory for the working class in France. Melenchon has called for the appointment of a prime minister from the left but Macron, serving the interests of big business, has been manoeuvring to block it.

This will provide opportunities for sharpening the class struggle.

The NFP programme promises to overturn many of Macron’s regressive measures, with an increase in the minimum wage, stronger rights for workers and higher taxes on the super-profits of large enterprises.

However, big challenges lie ahead, not least the advances made by the National Rally in some former communist-voting districts. Although not in a majority, the New Popular Front is the biggest force in the National Assembly, and with a solid and popular socialist programme.

Congratulations to the NFP and the French Communist Party.

The strategy of building unity within the labour movement and — where necessary — between left, progressive and centrist forces proved to be a winning formula. It substantially increased the size of the left in parliament and prevented the far right’s entry into government.

United and popular fronts proved to be the essential means for rallying trade unions, community organisations and campaigning groups, raising people’s morale and advancing the interests of the working class.

The huge contradiction for Western capitalism is that of supporting governments abroad which contain far-right elements — as in Israel and its genocidal war on Gaza — while also attempting to prevent neofascist parties from gaining electoral advantage at home.

It is the left and its allies who are rising to the far-right and neofascist challenge.

Palestine

The Labour government’s decision to restore funding to UNRWA is welcome; future attempts to undermine the agency’s status must be resisted.

The International Court of Justice must be free to issue arrest warrants in pursuit of its recent ruling, that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land is illegal under international law, including its settlement building and house demolition programmes.

This verdict should remove any obstacle to the British government’s immediate recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state, as 145 of the 193 UN member states have already done.

Communists demand such recognition now, along with the release of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails, the right of return for all displaced Palestinian people and a ban on arms exports to Israel.

Israel’s recent attack on Yemen is yet another dangerous step. Britain and the US are also bombing Houthi targets in one of the world’s poorest countries.

China, on the other hand, has mediated a historic deal — the Beijing Declaration — to bring together the various Palestinian groups, including Fatah and Hamas, in order to “end division and strengthen Palestinian unity.” This includes a commitment to form a unity government across the Palestinian Territories.

Starmer’s royal speech

On the home front, there were few surprises in Starmer’s King’s Speech on July 17.

Measures to expand employment rights and deliver justice for ethnic minority groups and people with disabilities would be welcome first steps, not least legislation making it unlawful to sack women within six months of giving birth.

Such proposals — including a “genuine living wage” — will, if enacted, improve the lives of millions of workers.

However, the government’s plan to tackle the housing crisis through amending the planning laws is a big disappointment. Leaving house-building to the big corporate developers, who own or control more than a million plots of land across 5,800 sites in Britain, will keep homes in short supply and prices and rents high.

Meanwhile, over 250,000 residential properties remain empty, long-term, in England alone.

There will be no resolution to the housing crisis without a major, fully funded council house-building programme.

Nor will plans to devolve powers to elected mayors and combined authorities succeed without urgent reform of the local government funding system. Almost one in five local authorities now face bankruptcy and need an urgent injection of funds to stave off massive austerity cuts.

Just stop the Act

Finally, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act has been used to impose long prison sentences on non-violent Just Stop Oil activists found guilty of conspiracy to commit a public nuisance. Their trial was a travesty — they were not even allowed to explain their motives to the jury.

The climate activists should be released and the Act — previously opposed by Labour — should be repealed.