Morning Star Editorial: Warplanes to the Middle East: Britain sides with the aggressor, again
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/warplanes-middle-east-britain-sides-aggressor-again
People taking part in a demonstration organised by the Palestinian Youth Movement Britain (PYM) near the Israeli embassy in London, June 13, 2025SENDING more RAF jets to the Middle East underlines Britain’s involvement in Israel’s escalating aggression in the region.
Missile exchanges between Israel and Iran are intensifying. Chancellor Rachel Reeves insists Britain is not involved: we are sending planes as a “precaution” to protect our “assets” (our regional military bases).
But why might these be under threat? Iran says it has evidence of US involvement in Israel’s unprovoked attack on it last week. It has warned that US, British and French bases involved in Israel’s attacks could be deemed legitimate targets.
Reeves does not rule out direct engagement. On the side of the aggressor, of course: “We have, in the past, supported Israel when there have been missiles coming in. I’m not going to comment on what might happen in the future… we’re sending in assets to both protect ourselves and also potentially to support our allies.”
Dubbing the nature of such support “defensive” because it might consist of helping shoot down Iranian missiles headed for Israel makes a mockery of the term. Israel has attacked Iran, and Britain has done nothing to try to intercept its barrage of missiles in the other direction, any more than it has used its “assets” in the region to stop Israel raining death on Gaza for 20 horrendous months.
Quite the opposite. Britain’s Akrotiri base on Cyprus has been instrumental to the Gaza genocide. It has been a base for RAF surveillance flights that pass intelligence to the Israeli Defence Forces. It has been a staging post for US supplies.
Britain’s claims not to be directly involved in the war against Palestine, and even to be in favour of a ceasefire, are transparently false. So why should Iran believe that Britain is not involved in the latest attacks? Our military works hand in glove with Tel Aviv’s, is even currently training Israeli soldiers, despite the overwhelming evidence of its war crimes.
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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/warplanes-middle-east-britain-sides-aggressor-again
dizzy: Israel’s Gaza genocide should not be termed a war, Gaza is virtually defenceless and there are laws which are totally ignored by Israel with complicity by UK, US and others.
Robbing welfare to pay for military expansion
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/robbing-welfare-pay-military-expansion
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves meeting members of the military during a visit to Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) in Telford, Shropshire, for an announcement on defence funding, March 24, 2025While promising massive housebuilding with ‘no fiscal cost,’ DIANE ABBOTT MP reveals the government relies on planning reforms alone rather than public investment, as military expansion becomes the only significant investment
IN POLITICS, one should never over-promise and then under-deliver. At the same time, overall policy should be grounded in something more than wishful thinking. It is highly regrettable that the Chancellor made both these errors in delivering her Spring Statement.
Before the statement, all the talk was of enormous sums that would become available for desperately needed investment. At the same time, there was a strong campaign to refute any idea that the government was pursuing yet another round in the failed austerity experiment of its predecessors.
In the event, both were untrue. The actual new investment is extremely small and is mostly directed towards military and security investment, which is a completely wasteful and dangerous diversion of resources. A somewhat larger sum is planned to be “saved” by yet further attacks on welfare.
In effect, more spending on the military is being paid for by more attacks on the vulnerable, the sick and disabled people.
The Treasury has itemised the sums which illustrate these dangerously wrong priorities. By 2029-30, they project that the annual total of capital investment will have increased by £4.6 billion. But most of this does not properly fall into the category of investment at all, because it is military spending. You cannot produce something else from bombs, bullets and missiles.
Once military and security funding are excluded, real new productive investment amounts to less than £1.9bn at the end of this parliament. It does not qualify as investment. In terms of impact on the economy or living standards, it is a trivial amount.
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Military spending is the only significant area of government spending which is seeing any significant rise in government capital spending. It aligns with Trump’s policy and begins to meet his demands. But we know that he will come back for more. There is already talk of doubling military spending as a proportion of GDP to 5 per cent.
Now, and in the future, that can only come from cutting spending elsewhere. Of course, if the economy were booming, then increases in welfare, in spending on public services, in genuine public investment and even increases in military spending could all take place simultaneously. But no-one is suggesting a boom is likely or even possible.
In reality, the rise in military spending is only possible by restraining spending on public services and cutting welfare. This increased military budget is being paid for by sick and disabled people. The economy will not get the public investment it needs and living standards and public services will both remain constrained. These choices are morally, politically and economically wrong.
Diane Abbott is Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.
Original article at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/robbing-welfare-pay-military-expansion
dizzy: UK corporate media is currently in full propaganda mode fully supporting Israel’s unlawful attack on Iran as it has supported genocidal war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank.
