GMB members were urged today to reconsider giving “blind support to Ukraine’s neoliberal, anti-trade union government as it cracks down on the workers’ movement.”

Union member Joshua Boyle, who uses they/them pronouns, warned that, amid the ongoing Russian invasion, the West is repeating past mistakes. They also asked: “If war is an industry, how can there be peace in a capitalist world?”

The intervention came during a debate at the general union’s annual congress in Brighton on whether GMB should continue to “campaign to increase arms sales to Ukraine, provide material support and build direct links with Ukrainian trade unions.”