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Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer has made a “total” commitment to Britain’s nuclear deterrent and said he hopes to raise military spending to 2.5% of national income, in a hawkish move on defense policy.
Starmer on Friday visited the Barrow shipyard in Cumbria where all of the UK’s submarines are built, including those carrying the country’s nuclear weapons, to underline a message aimed at persuading undecided voters, who supported the Conservatives at the last election, that he will. be tough on defense.
In an article in the Daily Mail, a publication read by many Tory supporters, Starmer described the “humiliating experience” of watching a nuclear submarine being built, rhetoric starkly at odds with that of his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn.
Corbyn, Labor leader until 2019, was seen by many mainstream Labor voters as weak on defense and said he would never order the use of nuclear weapons if he became prime minister.
“I am proud that today I will be the first Labor Party leader in over 30 years to visit the shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, to see these incredible boats being built,” Starmer wrote in the Mail.
“My commitment to NATO and the UK’s nuclear deterrent – maintained on behalf of NATO allies – is unwavering. Absolute. Total. The changed Labor Party I lead knows that our national security always comes first.”
To win a majority in the general election due this year, Starmer will have to win back millions of voters who switched to the Conservatives in 2019 and he is increasingly pitching his message to that audience.
He often appears before the union jack and both he and other members of the shadow cabinet have recently begun to speak approvingly of aspects of former Tory leader Margaret Thatcher’s premiership.
In a separate interview with the i newspaper, Starmer matched the Conservatives’ aspiration to increase British defense spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product.
“On defense spending, we obviously want to get to 2.5% as soon as resources allow,” he said. “This was the position when Labor left government and we absolutely remain committed to NATO.”
The “as soon as resources allow” caveat is crucial, however, given the pressure on the incoming government to increase spending on a number of struggling public services at a time of tight finances. It also echoes the government’s line on an economically prudent approach to increasing the military budget.
Britain currently spends just under 2.3% of GDP once military aid to Ukraine is included, but all European governments are under pressure to spend more to counter the growing threat posed by Russia.
During his visit to the Barrow shipyard, owned by defense contractor BAE Systems, Starmer announced a new “triple lock” commitment to the nuclear deterrent. She said a Labor government would remain committed to building all four Dreadnought-class submarines, which are expected to replace the current Vanguard-class boats carrying Britain’s nuclear weapons.