LABOURLIST: Labour MPs, peers and activists form Labour Friends of NATO network

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 weaken Britain’s relationship with the alliance.

More than a dozen Labour MPs and six Labour peers have already joined the network as initial patrons, including Calvin Bailey, Jo White, Dan Carden and Luke Akehurst.

Other members include former defence secretary and NATO General-Secretary George Robertson, author and activist Paul Mason, director of Progress Adam Langleben, general secretary of the Fabian Society Joe Dromey and former chair of Labour Friends of the Forces Toby Dickinson.

In an exclusive op-ed for LabourList, the network’s director Gary Kent and deputy director Paul Richards emphasised the role Labour had in building the alliance in 1949 – and how NATO’s values for democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law are reflected in the party.

“Clement Atlee’s Labour government after July 1945 enacted twin pillars to support our personal and national security: the NHS and NATO.

“Yet today, more than any time since Ernie Bevin added his name to the NATO Treaty in April 1949, NATO and its founding principles are under threat. The assumptions of collective strength face challenges by decisions from the Kremlin to the White House. The furore over Greenland illustrates the urgent need to overcome differences and maintain unity.

“Our argument is simple and compelling – an injury to one is an injury to all, collective security is the only true security and NATO remains the bedrock of British interests and our security as citizens.”

Kent and Richards said they have received a “warm welcome” for the network, with Defence Secretary John Healey describing NATO as “one of our party’s most enduring achievements”.

“Labour activists are proud of our party’s role in creating NATO and their voices will be crucial as Britain faces down rising threats. The newly-formed Labour Friends of NATO group shows that Labour is the party of defence and it has my backing,” Healey said.

The group, not an official Labour affiliate, intends to organise fact-finding visits to NATO’s political and military headquarters in Brussels, produce educational material for activists to take on opponents, and host an annual ‘Ernie Bevin lecture’ on NATO.

List of patrons of Labour Friends of NATO

Labour MPs

• Luke Akehurst, North Durham

• Alex Baker, Aldershot

• Calvin Bailey, Leyton and Wanstead

• Polly Billington, East Thanet

• Kevin Bonavia, Stevenage

• Dan Carden, Liverpool Walton

• Graeme Downie, Dunfermline and Dollar

• Damian Egan, Bristol North East

• Mary Glindon, Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend

• Emma Lewell, South Shields

• Luke Murphy, Basingstoke

• David Taylor, Hemel Hempstead

• Derek Twigg, Widnes and Halewood

• Jo White, Bassetlaw

Labour peers

• Ian Austin

• John Mann

• John Monks

• Meta Ramsay

• George Robertson

• John Spellar

• Tom Watson

Labour activists

• Peter Apps, author

• John Bew, author and professor of history and foreign policy at King’s College London

• Tom Collinge, deputy director of Progress

• Toby Dickinson, former chair of Labour Friends of the Forces

• Joe Dromey, general secretary of the Fabian Society

• Adam Langleben, director of Progress

• Alex Harrison, Basildon councillor and Labour to Win campaigns and operations manager

• Paul Mason, author and activist

• Bill Rammell, former Armed Forces and Foreign Minister