31/08/2026
Excellent article by Simon Korner on the need for the Labour Movement to get its act together on pushing for de-escalation in the war in Ukraine and in the UK.
MARKETING WAR
The British arms industry and media are jointly marketing war on Russia to soften up the population.
By Simon Korner
Here’s the Daily Express (Aug 29): “PM Andy Burnham has been warned Britain faces an ‘inevitable’ Russian attack owing to the UK’s resolute and unyielding support of Ukraine. Security officials were put on heightened alert on Tuesday for a potential strike, either against Mr Burnham personally or vital military facilities.”
The Daily Star (Aug 29) adds: “Fears the UK will need to introduce conscription have skyrocketed in recent weeks following threats from Russia, and one expert has suggested the punishments — including heavy fines — that could be imposed on those who refuse to sign up.”
The Express goes further: “Britons seeking to avoid military service in the event of a WW3 conscription drive could face a humiliating public shaming ritual.”
This is a call to bring back the white feather for anyone who wants peace.
The rising crescendo of warmongering is being fuelled by arms industry lobbyists like James Rogers, funded by BAE and Lockheed Martin. He warns: “Russia should remember that if [they] start firing missiles at Britain, a state of war would exist between two nuclear powers.” He urges London to begin some “robust but calm signalling”.
By “calm” he means huge military spending increases that will keep Britain a major player in the world, commensurate with its standing as “the world’s fifth largest economy, a global financial centre, 14 overseas territories, and international interests that extend across the Euro-Atlantic.” He warns that Britain can’t “afford the luxury of being a (mere) middle power” – which he insists “has nothing to do with empires.”
It’s certainly not about defending the country, which would be best achieved by dialling down the warmongering rhetoric.
Former Corbyn adviser and political commentator Steve Howell says of the arms lobbyists: “It suits them for the West to keep upping the ante – even if it costs yet more lives – because there's big money to be made from it.”
Howell asks a key question: “Are we willing to let our schools crumble and people die on NHS waiting lists for this?” His Substack column has an excellent account of war lobbyists like James Rogers – see the link here:
https://therestisbullsh*t.substack.com/p/beware-the-lobbyists-beating-the
This is not to say there’s no crisis in British-Russian relations. Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova says Britain is “one step away” from becoming legally complicit in “terrorism” against Russian civilians, warning of “catastrophic consequences” unless Britain changes course.
“We have repeatedly warned that any British military installations and equipment in Ukraine and beyond its borders could be targeted in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory carried out using British weapons.
“We propose that the British leadership once again carefully analyse the situation and immediately, in the most resolute and unequivocal manner, abandon the hostile, aggressive line,” she adds.
Instead, Andy Burnham on his visit to Kyiv added fuel to the fire by promising long-range rockets and the technological blueprints to produce them in Ukraine. In return he gained access to the combat data that trains Ukraine’s strike-guiding artificial intelligence, according to the Financial Times. That puts Britain directly at the centre of the war, providing accurate targets for Ukraine.
Most people don’t realise that British-made weapons are already being used daily to target and destroy civilian infrastructure deep inside Russia. Among the many targets, including the Lukoil refinery at Kstovo, 500 miles inside Russia, which produces up to 11 percent of the country’s gasoline – have been the Russian equivalents of Amazon. 20 warehouses of online retailers Wildberries and Ozon, staffed by civilian workers, with about 1.9 million square meters of warehouse space, have so far been hit. These warehouses have been severely damaged by fire, according to Reuters satellite analysis.
They have been bombed using weapons supplied by Britain. It is worth bearing this in mind and taking seriously Russia’s increasingly loud warnings.
Andy Burnham insists:
“International borders cannot be changed by force”, referring to Russia’s pre-emptive military operation in 2022 to protect the Donbas – whose population made clear its refusal to recognise the illegitimate coup government in Kyiv.
In stating this principle, Burnham omits the fact that Britain and NATO themselves changed borders by force when they attacked Yugoslavia in 1999 to force its fragmentation. He also leaves out the reality that NATO’s current aim is to break up the Russian Federation.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s enormous losses on the battlefield are forcing the regime to conscript women as cannon fodder.
The US Stars and Stripes military newspaper calls it “girl power” and features pink armored vehicles to illustrate its article.
Ukrainian historian Marta Havryshko of the University of Lviv is deeply critical of the Zelensky regime’s plans for conscripting women:
“And after that, what, the children? All the way to “victory”? Slava Ukraini? At what point does this suicidal concept finally give way to the basic instinct of self-preservation? Who needs land without people? Who needs a Ukrainian state without Ukrainians? What exactly is this state’s plan, other than grinding through its own people while patriotic slogans thunder from the loudspeakers? At this rate, the final victory parade may have everything except Ukrainians left to attend it.”
Britain and the other NATO partners are looking at Russian advances on the ground and deciding to escalate rather than enter peace talks. As an article in the Socialist Correspondent put it last week (“Who started the fire?”, Aug 25):
“What we face is not just the possibility but the likelihood of a full-scale war in Europe which would include the use of nuclear weapons. The creation and hyping of the myth of the Russian threat is in order that the war can be waged.”
The article continues:
“The British people want a peace deal to end the bloodshed in Ukraine. They do not want war. Opinion polls indicate this clearly.
“The trade union movement has begun to move towards a position of peace, notably UNISON as well as a successful motion by UCU at the last TUC conference. But we need far more pressure in this direction.
“The labour movement – all of us – must urgently work to put out the fire the US started. We need to push our government to distance itself from NATO’s aggression – for which all the European powers are responsible along with the USA.”
