Skip to main content
The massive rise in ‘defence’ spending must be opposed
As political rhetoric tilts towards militarisation from both major parties, we must push on to redefine the role of the international courts and the very concept of ‘security’ itself, writes ARTHUR WEST
ACTION FOR PEACE: Anti-war groups, including CND, mobilise against British and US attacks on Afghanistan, 2002

CURRENTLY in Britain, we have a Defence Minister, Grant Shapps, who said in a recent speech that we are in a pre-war rather than a post-war period.

We also have a Labour opposition which seems to want to out-Tory the Tories on defence spending.

In a recent speech, shadow defence minister John Healey talked about the need to rearm Britain. He used the speech to argue for substantial spending on defence, which would have certainly provided reassurance to the arms industry.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
A Typhoon FGR4 at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, March 27, 2026
Features / 22 April 2026
22 April 2026

While politicians fixate on defence budgets, the real answers lie in peace-building and economic justice, says ALAN SIMPSON

Undated handout photo provided by the Ministry of Defence of vanguard class nuclear submarine HMS Vengeance in Gare Loch, after departing HM Naval Base Clyde in Faslane, Scotland, to go on sea trials. Issue date: Monday February 24, 2025
Voices of Scotland / 30 December 2025
30 December 2025

Campaigns against nuclear weapons on the Clyde, financial backing for arms firms and rising militarism are converging with solidarity for Palestine, as Scotland’s peace movement builds momentum ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election, says ARTHUR WEST

President Donald Trump, center, speaks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, left, during a group photo of NATO heads of state and government at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, June 25, 2025
War Economy / 8 July 2025
8 July 2025

In an address to the Communist Party’s executive at the weekend international secretary KEVAN NELSON explained why the communists’ watchwords must be Jobs not Bombs and Welfare not Warfare

MARCHING EAST: German soldiers march at the formal inauguration of a German brigade for Nato’s eastern flank Lithuania, Thursday May 22
Features / 29 May 2025
29 May 2025

In the first half of a two-part article, PETER MERTENS looks at how Nato’s €800 billion ‘Readiness 2030’ plan serves Washington’s pivot to the Pacific, forcing Europeans to dismantle social security and slash pensions to fund it