Yanis Varoufakis exposes Keir Starmer’s military spending scam

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Yanis Varoufakis spoke to Declassified UK about why Keir Starmer's plan to spend more on the military is not a sustainable way to grow Britain's economy.

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Just days into his premiership, Keir Starmer announced the commissioning of a “root and branch” Strategic Defence Review (SDR), writes Kate Hudson.

Under the leadership of Lord Robertson, former defence secretary and NATO secretary general, the review panel claims to have broken with tradition, by including a much wider range of participants than usual – like former US presidential adviser Fiona Hill – and encouraging submissions from pretty much anybody.

A better break with the past would have been a reassessment of whether the current policies are actually working, and whether the large amounts of cash involved could actually be better spent on something else.

In recent days, Lord Robertson has said that the SDR will be “bolder and more radical” than previous versions, and will inspire our friends and intimidate our enemies. We await the review with bated breath.

It’s generally been assumed that the SDR will be looking to justify “defence” spending increases, from the current 2.3% of GDP to 2.5% from 2027 to the end of the current parliament.

Controversially, the government has already announced that this increase will be funded by slashing international aid spending. The intention is then to increase spending to 3% in the next parliament, although it’s highly unlikely that the current prime minister will be making the decisions at that point.

It’s hard to see, as plenty of military types have pointed out, that this level of increase will enable some massive root and branch transformation of our supposedly “hollowed-out” armed forces. But that isn’t really the point.

Tired old policy

The reality is that this Labour SDR is a continuation of the same tired old “nukes plus NATO” policy of the last 75 years. Yes, there are likely to be some new technological knobs on it, like the promised £1bn to develop technology to “speed up decisions on the battlefield”.

There will also be a new Digital Targeting Web to “better connect soldiers on the ground with key information provided by satellites, aircraft and drones helping them target enemy threats faster”. What could possibly go wrong?

But the real problem is that the government is starting in the wrong place: more military spending, more emphasis on militarisation within our society and “might makes right”, more resources to the “defence” industrial sector.

And too many in the trade unions and on the left are buying into this – falling for the myth that spending on defence is jobs-rich and will boost the economy, and the old lie that if you want peace you should prepare for war.

It’s beyond time to counter this disastrous narrative. With the NATO Secretary General calling for increases in military spending of more than 3.5% of GDP, European rearmament going into overdrive, and constant references to being war-ready, a new approach is crucial.

We need to recognise that if we carry on in the same way, we will end up in a war that actually directly affects us, and that will likely end in nuclear weapons use.