Keir Starmer declares Britain must prepare for war but people just want functioning infrastructure.
whilst the PM preps for imaginary battles, the UK's real enemies like poverty, crumbling services, and division are going unchecked.
Good day, spectators,
And yesterday, Keir Starmer stood in a factory, surrounded by hard hats and steel beams, and delivered a speech that would make Tony Blair blush.
the announcement.
Instead of announcing a lifeline for Britain's gutted public services, he declared the UK absolutely must pour billions into the military to become ‘battle-ready’ against its hordes of enemies. The setting was poetic to be quite honest: a so-called Labour leader, surrounded by workers at their workplace, not promising jobs or something better, but instead unveiling plans for 12 new nuclear submarines and 6 munitions factories…
…because nothing says ‘workers' party’ like arming up for a non-existent war that the politicians will not fight whilst nurses queue at food banks. Right?
Starmer's logic? ‘The threat is more serious than at any time since the Cold War.’
Yet he never names the threat. Is it Russia? Which has been struggling through the fields and mud of eastern Ukraine for three years? Or China, which has not dropped a bomb, fired a bullet or conducted a military operation in half a century?
Perhaps Keir’s real enemy is a public that might finally realise it's been robbed blind by decades of unbridled capitalism and austerity, now being sold war as a distraction. This announcement comes at a time when the disenfranchised and working class of the UK are on their last legs. Bills are higher than ever, the National Health Service is a shadow of its former glory, students are paying back loans their whole lives, trains are absolutely crap and social services have been whittled down so thin they're almost snapping.
From where I am sitting, it seems like another case of failing politicians creating enemies to whip up nationalism and manufacture consent for the mismanagement of public money. Because, when your domestic policies are disasters, nothing beats a good old-fashioned war scare to change the subject.
the warmongers and the hypocrisy.
Of course, Starmer isn't alone in this cynical theatre. He's part of what I can only describe as a crap neoliberal boyband…
A European coalition of selfish wankers led by France’s Macron, Germany’s Merz, Poland’s Tusk and beloved leader Starmer, who spend their days swanning about the continent and crooning about ‘European unity’ whilst their policies at home fracture societies. These names will be remembered for years to come, not as men of peace but as servants of the establishment and the weapons trade.
Emmanuel Macron warns of losing ‘credibility’ over Gaza, then continues arming Israel. New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz debates hosting Netanyahu—a wanted war criminal—whilst Germany jails Palestine protesters. Starmer pledges ‘NATO first’ as Britain's schools beg for budget for school lunches and hospitals have to ration care. These men are not simply failing their people; they are mocking them with their breathtaking hypocrisy.
You would be naïve to think this isn't part of a grander scheme concocted by the political class of the European Union, who have no idea what it's like to be you or me. They travel around Europe looking for great photo opportunities and pretending to be deep and pensive whilst taking hardline stances against Russia…
…meanwhile, they treat Israel as if it were made of porcelain, and we see this hypocrisy clearly. The only ‘coalition of the willing’ they've built is one of arms dealers and careerists, posing for solemn photos at summits while whispering about ‘peace through strength.’
But they don’t want peace. It was not even three days ago when Macron, in his infinite wisdom, directly threatened China with NATO expansion:
They harp on about defensive alliances and then use that alliance as a threat which completely undermines their thinly-veiled motives behind NATO.
No, let’s be honest, their real legacy is selling war whilst their people suffer.
the people.
Speaking plainly, no one is fooled by this charade anymore. Quite literally no one in the working class is clamouring for ‘ten times more lethal’ armies (Starmer actual words).
They want an NHS that doesn't leave cancer patients waiting months on treatment, housing that isn't mould-infested shoeboxes with extortionate rents and bastard landlords. They want wages that keep up with the price of the weekly shop, not generals' stock portfolios. They want trains that actually run on time and where you are not forced to stand up for 6 hours and they want it without being bankrupt!
They want roads without potholes, broadband that reaches rural areas, and social services that are not cut to the bone. They want schools with roofs that don't leak and enough teachers to fill the classrooms. This is what the people want.
And the people aren't stupid or ignorant of what's happening elsewhere either. They see countries that ignore war fetishisation thriving economically whilst their infrastructure grows. China raises 600 million people out of poverty and builds high-speed rail to connect every province whilst Britain's trains literally crumble mid-journey. Vietnam, which still bears the scars of Western bombs, now grows faster than any European economy whilst spending a fraction on defence.
Costa Rica abolished its army in 1949 and now leads on green energy. New Zealand's military budget is minute next to Britain's, yet its citizens live longer, happier lives. But Starmer's Britain gets missiles instead of strong social safety nets, because the political and capitalist class profits from panic, not peace.
And this is the case across most of Europe and NATO. Whilst ordinary peoples’ struggles increase day by day with the cost of living crisis, their leaders prioritise military spending that benefits defence contractors and leaves public services to wither away. The disconnect between what people need and what politicians deliver has not been starker in a long, long time.
Starmer may not realise it, but he's scripting Labour's obituary. The left is rising—not in Westminster, but in councils, unions, and streets. Jeremy Corbyn is already speaking about founding a new left-wing party, presumably not led by him but endorsed by him and made up of MPs with actual conscience.
Gaza independents have already humiliated Labour in Muslim-heavy constituencies, and polls show that most Brits oppose warmongering and, by extension, Starmer's NATO obsession.
Quite frankly, this isn't 1940, and the working class won't die for a country that doesn’t care for them, for ‘defence dividends’ that never trickle down to them. People are smarter than before, they know the tricks: invent enemies, cut services, profit.
At times like these, when people are angry and poor, the real left wing always rises. It's no surprise that alternative voices are gaining ground while Starmer transforms Labour into a pale imitation of the Tories.
Britain needs trains, not tanks. It needs doctors, not destroyers. And increasingly, it needs selfless politicians who remember that serving the people is their job, and they only have it by the grace of the people.
The coming revolt against this militaristic madness is, in my assessment, inevitable.
And on that note, I will let you go and probably won’t write you again until Friday,
(And as always, thanks for reading, make sure to subscribe and do please give this post a ❤️ and restack below too.)
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Read more from the spectacle:
UK needs an Ibrahim Traore from Burkina Faso, an honest, aggressive Marxist who knows exactly what to do to rid itself of the shackles and work for the people, thanks for the read again Deaglan
you're spoiling us with all the brutal rundown 😂
"Britain needs trains, not tanks. It needs doctors, not destroyers. And increasingly, it needs selfless politicians who remember that serving the people is their job, and they only have it by the grace of the people.
The coming revolt against this militaristic madness is, in my assessment, inevitable." Aye and aye! And this goes for the rest of the western imperialistic world as well. Well said!