“Last year saw senior figures in the arms industry make their highest turnovers in 20 years, with BAE Systems boasting a record profit of over £3 billion.”
By Ben Hayes, Labour Outlook
In a historical period defined in many ways by volatility and uncertainty, one thing, at least, is clear: the skewed priorities of all too many people in power.
Here in Britain, 15 years of austerity policies have left millions of people with decimated living standards and countless services effectively operating in a state of permanent crisis- it has now been over two decades since the last prolonged fall in poverty rates. Since replacing a spectacularly unpopular Conservative government, Keir Starmer’s cabinet have seen their support levels sink to a near unprecedented extent less than a year into power- with the policy of restricting Winter Fuel Allowance payments proving particularly disastrous (hence the vague pledge to “look again”). And all this is before measures such as the proposed cuts to disability support come into effect, which are estimated to plunge a further 400,000 people into poverty.
At the same time, there are those whose economic situation is looking anything but bleak- for instance, senior figures in the arms industry. Last year saw them make their highest turnovers in 20 years, with BAE Systems boasting a record profit of over £3 billion. Even following the government’s declaration of limited restrictions to arms sales to Israel after taking office, research has shown that thousands of items continued to be sent over the past 8 months. And with the Prime Minister’s announcement earlier this year of annual military spending increases of £13.4 billion from 2027 onwards (funded in part by cuts to overseas aid after President Trump’s public demands for NATO member states to increase their share of GDP going towards defence.) The Government’s ‘Defence Review’ this week confirms this immunity from austerity will not be going anywhere anytime soon.
In these circumstances, it is vital that the labour movement fulfills its duty both to organise on an industrial and community level to defend livelihoods, and to put forward a fundamentally different agenda when it comes to how Britain could be run.
The late Bob Crow, General Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) for 12 years and one of the most iconic British trade union leaders of the 21st century, once defined a union’s objectives as fighting to ensure “Job security, being safe, the best possible pay, the best possible conditions, decent pensions, and a world that lives in peace.“
In this spirit, it is fitting that the new Alternative Defence Review originated from a motion passed at the RMT’s AGM entitled Peace Is A Labour Movement Issue, which mandated the union to “reiterate and strengthen support for organisations campaigning for peace globally and in Britain; to convene a labour and peace movement summit to work for a new foreign policy with promotion of peace and social justice at its heart; and to campaign for socially useful, well-paid, unionised jobs including a commitment to build a campaign for defence diversification based on the principles of Just Transition.”
The Review brings together a range of trade unionists, peace campaigners, academics, economists and journalists to examine the present state of defence policy, question the case for greater militarism in the future, and outline a vision based on putting resources into a future based on peace, co-operation and a decent standard of living for all.
These are always important issues to raise, but this initiative is especially key at a time when we are seeing a push against campaigning questions of peace and internationalism – not only from the current leadership of the Labour Party, but within parts of the trade union movement itself. These arguments ultimately rest on the notion that such matters are simply beyond the remit of workers, who should not preoccupy themselves with government policy- or in some cases actively cheer it on. The Alternative Defence Review argues that further militarisation is both dangerous and far from being the route to secure, well-paid jobs it is often sold as – and sets out proposals for investment in a range of industries that could bring huge social benefits.
At a time when division is being ramped up in relation to both domestic and global politics, it is crucial that we build a culture of solidarity in the fight for a better future – let’s wage war on want rather than against each other.
- The Red Weekly Column will appear each Monday on Labour Outlook from one of our regular socialist contributors.
- Read more on – and download – the Alternative Defence review here.
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