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This article by Eric Lee originally appeared in March 2022 for a left-wing newspaper but its arguments remain pertinent today. There is a saying that generals are always ready to fight the last war. The same may be said of political leaders. The difference is that they are ready to stop the last war, and have learned the lessons of what caused it. In the 1930s, when Japan, Italy and Germany began to menace neighbouring countries, a consensus began to emerge in the democrac

Bill Rammell's speech at Labour Friends of NATO conference event

Co-chair Paul Richards is joined at Labour Friends of NATO conference reception by Secretary of State for Defence, Wes Streeting Labour Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting MP, reaffirmed the UK government’s commitment to NATO. Speaking at the Labour Friends of NATO reception at the Labour conference in Liverpool, Streeting claimed NATO as a Labour achievement alongside the NHS. The event was attended by a crowd of trade unionists, delegates, MPs, and Ministers. Speakers included

You may not be interested in Russian belligerence, but Russian belligerence is interested in you, to paraphrase Leon Trotsky. Every day brings fresh evidence of the malevolent and increasingly reckless activities of the revanchist regime in Russia. A blatant example is the foiled armed drone attack on a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig airport in Germany. There are increasing incursions into NATO airspace and visible Russian naval surveillance of subsea cables on which we dep

Twenty five years ago, America was under attack. Within days, NATO triggered Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, without a specific request from the US. Article 5 states that an attack on one member of NATO is an attack on all. It allows each member state to help by taking any necessary measures, including armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area. This is the only time since NATO was established that Article 5 has been invoked.

The launch of Labour Friends of NATO could be a game-changer in preparing the British people to face down intimidation and aggression. Almost every week brings news of blatant Russian sabotage and disinformation campaigns against Britain and its democratic allies. Yet though support for defence spending is rising, the public remains largely oblivious of the threat. When we celebrate NATO, as Labour, we naturally think of Ernest Bevin, who placed its creation central to the ac

The debate surrounding Western defence spending has fundamentally shifted. It is no longer just a high-level conversation about hitting arbitrary GDP targets; it is an urgent structural puzzle: How do we actually build the industrial capacity to back up our commitments? This core issue took centre stage at a roundtable discussion hosted by Labour Friends of NATO inside the Palace of Westminster. Bringing together leading voices from across the military, parliamentary, and act

In 1848, Marx and Engels surveyed revolts and revolutions across Europe and concluded: “all that is solid melts into air”. Today, we live in times no less tumultuous than those which forged the Communist Manifesto. Every kind of institution, and every assumption that underpins them, is under threat. National bodies, from the BBC to the Conservative party, are being disrupted by technology and buffeted by populism. International bodies – the UN, World Health Organization, the

Photo: Karlis Dambrans / Shutterstock Originally written by Damian Green for Labourlist. Link to article here Labour MPs, peers and activists have formed a new network in support of strengthening and maintaining support for the NATO alliance. Labour Friends of NATO (LFN) seeks to increase the understanding among Labour MPs and party members about NATO’s principles and policies, as well as equipping them with the knowledge to rebut populists on the left and right that seek to

In this week’s column, Paul takes on the anti-NATO left, tracing its roots to show is has always been a fundamentally un-Labour position.