Richard Burgon (Lab) says he is concerned about the prospect of British troops being deployed on the ground. He goes on:
There’s no getting away from the fact that we risk our country coming into a direct military conflict with a nuclear armed Russia, and the consequences for millions of people in our country, across Europe, of such war and nuclear conflict really do not bear thinking about.
Starmer says the risk lies in not willing to fight for democracy. [1]
I don’t usually get annoyed by much that I hear. But, this kind of annoys me. How is, as the Labour MP sensibly says, risking a war with Russia, by proposing to send troops to join a Euro-Ukraine army, anything at all to do with “fighting for democracy”? Is the UK under attack? Not in the slightest. (Except, possibly, a few inflated sabotage operations, which, if they exist at all, would stop the moment we stopped sending weapons to Ukraine to kill Russians). Is Ukraine a democracy? No. The current government is a descendent of a coup government. Long before 2022 they were banning political and media opposition. They are approximately equal to Russia on a respected NGO corruption index. * And, finally, if we stopped fighting, 80% of former Ukraine could immediately focus on developing their political structures and joining the EU (and developing mineral wealth with US aid). That is the obvious path to support democracy in Ukraine. Even if Ukraine were a democracy why would we get involved in this war – which could have been avoided simply by them a) agreeing not to be in NATO and b) them implementing the Minsk accords which, as per normal European democratic standards, envisaged autonomy for a region with a separate cultural identity. Indeed how is supporting hard-core nationalism in Ukraine “fighting for democracy”?
This is totally back to front.
* I quote a well-known NGO. I should say that this seems to be a liberal conception of ‘corruption’ which sees open cash bribes as corrupt but corporate ‘rewards’ and legal ‘money-laundering’ by the state of public money to private finance and corporations as not corrupt. If the latter were included the UK would, of course, be one of the most corrupt countries on the planet.
I saw for myself he was taken aback when the crowd in Whitehall cheered at the top of their voices and they were speaking for the whole of our country, a reminder that this government, this house and this nation, stand in unwavering support behind him and the people of Ukraine. [Starmer]
This is Starmer in parliament. According to this youGov poll from December 2024: just 36% of the population supported Ukraine fighting to totally remove Russia from Ukraine. 32% were in favour of ‘negotiated end’ which left Russia in control of part of Ukraine. It turns out that it is Starmer who needs a lesson in democracy. 36% is not the unwavering support of the ‘whole country’.
Notes