“To build a broad movement for peace, justice and real security we must seize the opportunity to win over growing sections of the population questioning Britain’s ‘special relationship’ with the US.”
Sophie Bolt, CND General Secretary
By Sophie Bolt, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)
Whether it’s US bombs or European ones, the reckless warmongering to justify Cold-War levels of military spending is heading in the same direction: towards another world war. We need to help build a coordinated global movement to stop it.
Trump’s brutal negotiations to secure a settlement between Ukraine and Russia, has been a catalyst for extreme war-mongering across Europe and in Britain. This ramping up of military spending makes the world far more dangerous, our populations poorer – and it plays right into Trump’s hands. It means, as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has stated, that US plans to ‘shift towards Asia would be “co-ordinated” with European allies’.
This coordination is already happening. Starmer and Macron’s ‘Coalition of the Willing’, a so-called ‘reassurance force’ brings together most European countries, Turkey, Australia and Canada, possibly Japan and New Zealand. ‘Readiness 2030’ is the funding package to drive this militarism. The 2030 date is the target for when Europe must be ready to militarily confront Russia or repel such an attack. Described by Macron as a ‘pacifist approach’ it is backed by € 800bn to finance a massive rearmament operation of missile defence, artillery systems, drones and anti-drone systems.
Macron’s proposed nuclear-sharing agreement with countries including Poland and Germany could risk French nuclear-armed Rafel jets deployed in Poland, on Russia’s border. It could also mean these jets patrolling European borders and raises questions about whether they would be deployed in Ukraine.
In Britain, Starmer has been positioning himself as a military leader pushing escalation across Europe. In mid-March, in an extraordinarily reckless show of rhetoric, both Starmer and Healey threatened Russia with Britain’s nuclear weapons – with Rear Admiral Chris Parry arguing one submarine can cause the ‘incineration of 40 Russian cities’.
Such a direction – by Trump, Starmer and Macron – could lead to the terrifying prospect of not only a Europe bristling with long-range missiles and the constant threat of nuclear annihilation with Russia. But also – as the US rapidly refocuses its overwhelming military might to the Asia Pacific – another terrifying threat of a nuclear confrontation with China. Such a direction threatens the existence of humanity and the planet.
Not surprisingly, given this warmongering political leadership, the majority of the British population think that nuclear war is most likely to cause human extinction.
But, it was such fears at the height of the Cold War that drove hundreds of thousands onto the streets to express their outrage and force political leaders to step back from the nuclear brink. And so today, we have to understand the grave threat that this war drive poses and build a movement strong enough to halt it.
Already, in response to rising militarism across Europe, large demonstrations have taken place in Rome and in Germany at the pivotal US airbase at Ramstein, where the US plans to site long-range missiles.
Here in Britain, we need to take inspiration from this renewed opposition. There is a groundswell of resistance to the lengths to which Starmer is going to secure Trump’s approval on military spending. Big majorities of voters – Labour at 56% and Green at 67% – support decent levels of benefits over defence spending.
And Trump’s unpopularity is also creating a perfect storm around Britain’s nuclear dependence on the US. This is leading to splits across the British political spectrum with figures like former Defence Secretary, Malcolm Rifkind, urging Britain to reorientate to Europe. There is greater understanding of the spiralling nuclear costs, which increased by a whopping 62% in just one year.
Trump’s aggressive ‘America First’ agenda is also exposing the nuclear dangers of Britain’s subordination to the US. From Britain’s role in the AUKUS nuclear alliance against China, to hosting US nuclear weapons and bases for US Missile Defence, Britain’s role in the US military machine enables the US to project its nuclear and military dominance across the world – putting us all at great danger. And with the likely stationing of new US nuclear weapons at RAF Lakenheath, this would be yet another target on our backs.
To build a broad movement for peace, justice and real security we must seize the opportunity to win over growing sections of the population questioning Britain’s ‘special relationship’ with the US. Important initiatives are already happening to build links with all those opposed to the government’s attacks on living standards and public services. Global cooperation is absolutely critical to solve the myriad crises of financial chaos, climate breakdown and growing global poverty. To move towards genuine security, we need a British government working to defend vital arms control treaties and delivering on its international commitments for nuclear disarmament, climate action and global equality.
- Join CND at an International Peace Conference on Thursday 24 April and a Blockade of RAF Lakenheath on Saturday 26 April.
- Sophie Bolt is the General Secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). You can follow her on Twitter/X and follow the CND on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X.
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