Workers' Weekly Internet Edition Year 2026 Volume 56 Number 9
Source: http://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-26/ww26-09/ww26-09.htm
Archived: 2026-04-23 17:12
Workers' Weekly Internet Edition Year 2026 Volume 56 Number 9
Volume 56 Number 9, March 21,
2026
ARCHIVE
HOME
JBCENTRE
SUBSCRIBE
Zelensky European Tour to Shore-Up Support
Britain's "Defence Partnership" Aims to
Embed itself in Ukraine against Russia and Iran
Workers' Weekly Internet Edition
:
Article Index :
Zelensky European Tour to Shore-Up Support:
Britain's "Defence Partnership" Aims to Embed
itself in Ukraine against Russia and Iran
Britain's Militarisation:
The Need for an Anti-War Government
Zelensky
European Tour to Shore-Up Support
Britain's "Defence Partnership" Aims to
Embed itself in Ukraine against Russia and Iran
On Tuesday, March 17, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine visited
London for talks with the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer.
The
Telegraph
reported the visit as a "don't forget about me..."
European tour exposing panic in Ukraine that the US/Israeli war on Iran was now
capturing the "world's focus" of leaders and media alike. In fact,
the reports said that Zelensky was "welcomed by King Charles at Buckingham
Palace" with a "warm handshake and photograph"; he also
addressed "Parliamentarians" at a Westminster committee room that
included the Prime Minister, NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte, Defence
Secretary John Healey and leaders of opposition parties. Starmer focused on
Britain's affirming a "world leading partnership" and "our
shared determination to deepen our defence partnership" with Ukraine. The
Prime Minister's office also presented this as "support to partners in the
Gulf" and as a "defence partnership" against
"indiscriminate Iranian attacks" whilst continuing to escalate its
proxy war in Ukraine against Russia and use its "partner Ukraine" to
support the US/Israeli aggression against Iran.
In his speech, Zelensky also sought to link the US/Israeli war in the Middle
East against Iran with the long-running conflict in Ukraine, insulting the
Russian and Iranian governments as the "brothers in hatred".
Supposedly, the Anglo-US provoked NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and
the attack on Iran are "defensive" wars without hatred whilst killing
tens of thousands in their wars! Zelensky showed the subservience of his
Ukrainian regime to these warmongers when he boasted that there were now
"201 Ukrainian military experts in the Middle East", with
"another 44 ready to deploy", who were sharing their knowledge on how
to defend against Iranian drones in support of the US/Israeli attack on Iran.
Prior to Zelensky's visit, Starmer revealed who was pulling the strings, when
he had said on March 1 that Britain would "bring experts from Ukraine
together with our own experts" to help Gulf partners shoot down Iranian
drones. This is why Iran now sees Ukraine as part of the hostile anti-Iran
coalition associated with the US/Israeli criminal bombing of and aggression
against Iran.
During their talks, Starmer and Zelensky signed a "partnership"
[1] that will combine "Ukrainian expertise and the UK's industrial
base" to manufacture and supply drones and other capabilities. They
revisited the UK-Ukraine Strategic Dialogue [2] going through the "8
pillars" of the provocative "Landmark 100 Year Partnership
Agreement" signed in January last year. This agreement
Workers'
Weekly
condemned at the time as a British warmongering
"partnership" agreement with Ukraine. An agreement which is in the
service of Britain's imperialist ambitions, its monopolies and war industries.
It "reveals that the British and European leaders are not seeking a
permanent peace but are being forced to make concessions for the 'foreseeable
future' on their global ambitions" whilst they "continue to embed
themselves in their proxy state of Ukraine, and use it to weaken Russia in
Eastern Europe and Asia. [3]"
QinetiQ Drone - Ukraine utilises British QinetiQ Banshee
Jet 80 UAVs as long-range kamikaze drones.
This was the British agenda with its cartel party system supporting the
talks between Starmer and Zelensky. The Ukraine Defence Partnership reveals
Britain's global ambition to continue to embed itself in the Ukrainian state
and its war and other industries. Britain is doing this to continue to use
Ukraine and the Ukrainian people as its proxy army and weapons producer. It
also wants to use Ukraine to help rescue Britain's shattered ambitions in West
Asia and try to take advantage of the US/Israel war against Iran. It is using
Ukrainian forces and experts it has helped hone in the war against Russia
alongside British "advisors". But now Britain is once again engaged
in military actions in the Middle East against Iran.
In a government statement to parliament on Tuesday, Yvette Cooper, Secretary
of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, said [4]: "As
I speak, British Typhoons and F-35s are flying in defence of the eastern
Mediterranean and across Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and
Iraq. The UK's defensive military action is supporting the wider region, with
four extra Typhoons, three Wildcat helicopters and a Merlin helicopter already
deployed. We are increasing our naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean, as
HMS Dragon and RFA Lyme Bay approach. As the House is aware, we have given
permission for US forces to use long-standing basing at RAF Fairford and Diego
Garcia to support defensive strikes against the ballistic missiles that are
targeting the Gulf." These bases in Britain and in the Indian Ocean have
been used by the USAF to criminally bomb Iran as outright unprovoked aggression
- not as "defence". This
was followed by the further
allegation that "our Cyprus base is not being used in those US
operations". Yet it is being used, for, as a spokesperson for the Ministry
of Defence told the BBC on March 6, "Just this week, we have flown Typhoon
and F-35 fighter jets on sorties around the region, shooting down Iranian
drones." This base at RAF Akrotiri has long supported operations in the
Middle East and, more recently, been used for surveillance flights over Gaza in
support of Israeli genocide against the Palestinians.
The anti-war movement in Britain is facing the crucial task of opposing the
warmongering schemes of the British government and continuing to expose and
oppose these destructive military alliances with Ukraine. These include the
Ukraine "Landmark 100 Year Partnership Agreement" signed last year,
and the "UK-Ukraine joint statement: Enhanced Security and Defence
Industrial Collaboration Declaration", the "Ukraine Defence
Partnership", and the "Enhanced Security and Defence Industrial
Collaboration Declaration" signed this week by Starmer and Zelensky. These
agreements promoted by Britain, and by the Anglo/US-led NATO countries,
continue to promote and provoke and escalate war not just in Ukraine but in
West Asia and even in Africa and Asia where Ukrainian troops are also now
appearing. They aim to build infrastructure for war against Russia and Iran as
well as all over the world in the name of a "defensive alliances" and
"industrial collaborations". They must be opposed alongside the
warmongering NATO alliance itself. This is an urgent aim for all the movements
of the people for peace.
Notes
1. UK-Ukraine joint statement: Enhanced Security and Defence Industrial
Collaboration Declaration - GOV.UK
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-ukraine-joint-statement-enhanced-security-and-defence-industrial-collaboration-declaration
Ukraine Defence Partnership set to boost global production and national
security
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ukraine-defence-partnership-set-to-boost-global-production-and-national-security
2. The UK-Ukraine Strategic Dialogue - GOV.UK
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-uk-ukraine-strategic-dialogue
3. UK and Ukraine sign "Landmark 100 Year Partnership Agreement":
Starmer's Vain Attempt to Ensure Ukraine Remains NATO's Proxy against Russia,
Workers' Weekly
, January 25, 2025
https://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-25/ww25-01/ww25-01-01.htm
4. Yvette Cooper The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and
Development Affairs update on Middle east
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2026-03-17/debates/5E7F5053-690E-47A6-926D-6A2B1A904946/MiddleEast
Article Index
Britain's
Militarisation
The Need
for an Anti-War Government
Based on a presentation given at a London RCPB(ML)
discussion meeting
What did Prime Minister Keir Starmer mean by saying the British state has
been "feeble" as he did last year? This means that the working class
and people should expect increased rule on the basis of the police powers of
the executive, of police rule, with even the possibility of this being extended
to military powers. In other words, it also applies to militarisation, where it
is used as a reason for strengthening the military, increasing the spending on
so-called "defence". The government's Strategic Defence Review was
announced by the Prime Minister in June last year. This, as Starmer said then,
aims to turn Britain's already
military-dominated economy into a fully militarised economy and to put
British society on a war footing. And Starmer's words on Britain's engagement
in the war against Iran have demonstrated the fraud of "defence"
versus "attack" and the actual subservience to Trump's wanton
exercise of extreme violence, warmongering and contempt for all international
norms.
Furthermore, it is not only an issue with the government directly, but the
issue of putting arms manufacturers at the centre of the war machine. Keir
Starmer's aspiration is to put Britain and its arms industries at the centre of
a militarised Europe. British arms exports have soared to a record £9.2bn.
The value of UK "single individual" licences for arms exports in 2024
(the latest full-year figures) increased by 86% to reach a record £9.2bn.
Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Qatar, and the US are the top recipients. There is a
close relationship between British and US arms industries. The figure of
£9.2bn does not cover exports under unlimited "open" licences.
The Campaign against the Arms Trade (CAAT) estimates these account for roughly
half of all UK arms exports. And for some countries and regions, including the
US and West Asia, a substantial majority of exports go through open licences.
The major legal, regulated arms and defence manufacturers operating in
Britain, producing defence systems, aerospace technology, naval systems,
vehicles, electronics and other equipment, are [1]:
BAE Systems:
Sector: Aerospace, naval systems, armoured vehicles,
munitions; Notes: Largest defence contractor in the UK; major supplier to MoD;
Products: Typhoon fighter (with partners), submarines, artillery, naval ships
Rolls Royce Defence:
Sector: Military jet engines, naval nuclear
propulsion; Products: Engines for Typhoon, Hawk, and naval reactors
Leonardo UK:
Sector: Radar, helicopters, avionics, electronic
warfare; Products: AW159 Wildcat, AESA radars, defensive systems
MBDA UK:
Sector: Missiles and missile systems; Products: Brimstone,
Meteor, Sea Ceptor
Thales UK:
Sector: Sensors, communications, naval systems; Products:
Sonar, optronics, air defence components
QinetiQ:
Sector: Defence research, robotics, testing; Products:
Robotics, sensors, test ranges
Babcock International:
Sector: Naval engineering, shipbuilding,
support; Products: Type 31 frigate programme
BAE Systems Munitions (formerly Royal Ordnance):
Sector: Small arms
ammunition, artillery shells; Products: 5.56mm, 7.62mm, 155mm shells
Ultra Electronics:
Sector: Submarine systems, sonar, communications
Chemring Group:
Sector: Countermeasures, pyrotechnics, sensors;
Products: Flares, decoys, explosives detection
Other notable companies producing components, vehicles, electronics, or
support systems are:
London demonstration confronting the US Embassy, March 7
2026
Marshall Aerospace & Defence - military shelters, aircraft support;
Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) - armoured vehicles (e.g., Boxer): Supacat
- high-mobility military vehicles; Jankel Group - protected vehicles, armour
systems; Meggitt (now part of Parker) - aerospace components, defence systems;
Cranfield Aerospace - aerospace engineering; AWE (Atomic Weapons Establishment)
- nuclear warhead stewardship (highly regulated); BAE Systems Maritime -
submarines and warships
Some key issues arising are the arms sales to Israel in the context of the
genocidal war on Gaza; the government's push to sell Eurofighter Typhoon
aircraft to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey; and the sale of arms to the United
Arab Emirates (UAE) in the context of the UAE's role in arming the Rapid
Support Forces (RSF) militia in Sudan. Britain is also to procure more
anti-drone missiles in show of support for Gulf allies.
Companies which have links with supplying weapons to Israel, and vice versa
the Israeli military firms which have links in Britain, are as follows [2]:
1. Israeli arms companies with a UK footprint
RAF conducts first air strikes of Iraq mission - Photo:
MOD
Elbit Systems & Elbit Systems UK
Role: Israel's largest arms producer; describes its drones as the
"backbone" of Israel's drone fleet.
UK presence: CAAT lists four UK subsidiaries-Instro Precision, Elite KL,
Ferranti Technologies, UAV Engines-plus joint ventures UAV Technologies (with
Thales UK) and Affinity (with KBR).
Facilities: Some UK sites have been the focus of sustained protest and at
least one closure has been reported in Bristol.
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)
Role: State-owned Israeli arms company, among the world's largest.
UK link: Contracted to supply Jaguar Remote Patrol Vehicles to the UK for
unmanned land systems trials.
Rafael & Israel Military Industries (IMI)
Role: Along with Elbit and IAI, these form the core of Israel's arms
industry, exporting globally.
UK link: Their equipment and components appear in international supply
chains; CAAT flags them as key Israeli suppliers, though specific UK-plant
footprints are less prominent than Elbit's.
2. UK and European manufacturers tied into Israeli projects
Thales UK
Type of link: Joint programmes and technology sharing with Elbit.
Example: The Watchkeeper WK450 UAV, delivered to the UK under an ~£800m
contract, is based on Elbit's Hermes drone platform.
UAV Tactical Systems / "UAV Technologies" JV
Structure: Joint venture between Elbit and Thales UK, operating in the UK.
Role: Involved in production and support of the Watchkeeper UAV system used
by the British Army.
Affinity (Elbit + KBR)
Type of link: Joint venture providing UK military flight training services
and platforms.
There are many smaller industries which produce components for military
hardware. Many UK-based arms and dual-use manufacturers may have export
licences to Israel (or to programmes involving Israeli end-users), even if they
do not advertise it. Those links show up in UK Strategic Export Controls data
and NGO analyses rather than in neat corporate lists.
Israel now possesses 48 F-35 combat jets, 15% of which is made in the UK.
Israel has been using its F-35s in so-called "beast mode" to bomb
Gaza.
Britain, along with France and Germany, is also contributing significantly
to the militarisation of Europe. In July 2025, Britain and France signed the
Northwood and the Lancaster House 2.0 declarations. The former concerns nuclear
co-operation between Britain and France, committing both states to
co-ordinating nuclear policy, capabilities and operations. The latter,
according to the British government, is said to reboot, modernise and build
upon the bilateral defence and security relationship between the two countries,
including under the Lancaster House Treaties, in order to "effect a
generational shift in both our bilateral co-operation and our joint
contribution to the defence of Europe" through co-operation on nuclear
weapons, overhauling the existing Combined Joint Expeditionary Force, and
"bringing our defence industries and militaries closer than ever before to
strengthen NATO".
At the Munich Security Conference in February, Keir Starmer affirmed:
"We must go beyond the historic steps that we took at last year's UK-EU
summit to build the formidable productive power and innovative strength that we
need. British companies already account for over a quarter of the continent's
defence industrial base."
Regarding the role of AI in militarisation, it is being described as
compressing military kill chains from days to seconds, a shift that the Iran
war has made impossible to ignore. But the technology is outpacing
accountability: civilian harm frameworks have been dismantled, targeting
lawyers fired, and over 1,200 Iranian civilians killed as the Pentagon
prioritises lethality over deliberation. Britain has awarded 26 arms firms
lucrative contracts to develop its own autonomous targeting systems - this is
despite numerous atrocities in Gaza - and now, Iran - being linked with
haphazard AI kill chain systems. Gaza has been a testing ground for AI in
warfare.
Drone Wars'
Chris Cole has said: "While militaries are
keen to use AI to speed up decision making around lethal strikes, there are
serious ethical and legal concerns about these developments, with increasing
evidence that ratcheting up the number of strikes leads to greater danger for
civilians."
As well as the US effectively having over a dozen bases on British soil,
Britain has bases abroad in connection with its colonial past. For example, in
Cyprus, not only was the Akrotiri base targeted in the waves of retaliation
against Britain's aggression, but the campaign of the people of Cyprus against
the presence of British bases had been steadily growing since well before that.
Britain also hosts four US spy facilities on Cyprus. The complicity of Starmer
with the US-Israeli genocide in Gaza was also exposed when hundreds of
surveillance flights were sent by Britain over Gaza from Akrotiri. Officially
they were looking for hostages, but no evidence has ever been provided that
they helped find any, raising concerns that Israel could have used intelligence
from the planes for its general war effort. US military transport planes were
also allowed to pass through Akrotiri en route to Israel.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has refused to disclose to the media or
parliament how many Iranian civilians have been killed by US bombing missions
from British air bases. Keir Starmer says that US strikes from RAF Fairford in
Gloucestershire and the British-occupied Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia
were "to destroy [Iran's] missiles at source, in their storage depots or
at their launchers".
With militarisation and the push to develop war industries, international
norms and the international rule of law are counting for nothing, and it counts
for nothing for governments like Britain's that Trump's wanton violence is
carried out in pulverising these norms and laws, whatever Starmer may say.
For example, on January 7, United States military forces, supported by
British forces, intercepted the oil tanker in the Atlantic Ocean south of
Iceland. The ship was sailed towards the UK, arrived in the Moray Firth on
January 13 and anchored there in British territorial waters. Subsequently, the
captain and first officer were removed from UK jurisdiction by the US
Coastguard to face criminal charges in the United States. The British
government agreed to a request from the US to provide support for repatriation
of the remaining 26 members of the
Bella 1
crew who had not been
arrested (none of whom were UK nationals). The whole affair was conducted, as
part of the US targeting of Venezuela and its oil shipments, in contravention
of recognised international law.
The imposition of a blockade on Venezuela has been condemned by many
sources, including UN experts and international lawyers: there is no right to
enforce unilateral sanctions through an armed blockade. The US has broken the
prohibition on the use force contained in the UN Charter and Britain has acted
unlawfully by providing logistical and military support for the US action.
Protesters at the Munich Security Conference, February 14
2026
In the movement against militarisation and war, the working class and people
have to work to consolidate themselves as the power to combat the warmongering,
violence, dictate and militarism of the ruling elite. They must set their
sights on constituting themselves as an Anti-War Government, and all that
entails about authority and power resting with the people who desire peace. The
youth must not be made cannon-fodder in the wars of the ruling elite and the
armaments industry!
The anti-war movement is demanding that the government end its
militarisation - to end all involvement in the US and Israel's war on Iran,
including stopping the use of British bases here and in Cyprus for military
attacks, and to join the growing international calls for an immediate end to
the bombing. The anti-war movement truly has the crucial task of opposing the
warmongering schemes of the British government, whether here in Britain, or
with the self-titled "coalition of the willing" in the proxy war
against Russia in Ukraine, or in alliance with the US regime in the Middle
East.
The resistance to Britain's militarisation is growing, and it is a central
part of the Party's work to bring out and inspire the human factor/social
consciousness in this transitional period of history. In that context, the
implications of what an Anti-War Government mean present themselves to be
elaborated. In a word, it means something new, something from which everyone
can gain confidence, as they do more than simply react to the retrogression
linked with the restructuring of the state to ensure that governments are
constituted by oligarchs or representatives of those vested private interests.
It can be seen that militarisation is not simply a rise in "defence
spending", but is the road along which these oligarchs and governments are
taking society. So the anti-war movement in its direction towards an Anti-War
Government does more than react, or put its faith in a limited number of justly
supported figures who take a stand against imperialist war, but works out ways
to concretise how society must be organised so that sovereignty lies with the
people and eventually political power is grasped, and the state acquires a
modern democratic personality. The strength and future lies with the people as
they break with the old conscience of society and fight for the alternative.
The call is for a modern state which enshrines the rights of all by virtue
of being human and their concrete reality. The alternative is being created as
working people themselves constitute the authority at each turn of events and
decide directly how to intervene to make sure whatever the ruling class is
implementing at their expense cannot succeed. This means that those who
currently deprive the people of power must themselves be deprived of the power
to rule with impunity.
Britain Urgently Needs an Anti-War Government!
Notes
1. Retrieved via AI.
2. Retrieved via AI.
(other sources: The Canary, Declassified, Drone Wars, CAAT, Workers'
Weekly)
Article Index
Receive Workers'
Weekly E-mail Edition:
It is free to
subscribe to the e-mail edition
We encourage all those who support the work of RCPB(ML) to also support it
financially:
Donate to
RCPB(ML)
WW Internet
RSS Feed
Workers' Weekly
is the weekly on
line newspaper of the
Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist)
Website:
http://www.rcpbml.org.uk
E-mail:
office@rcpbml.org.uk
170, Wandsworth Road, London, SW8 2LA.
Phone: 020 7627 0599:
RCPB(ML) Home Page
Workers' Weekly Online
Archive
Volume 56 Number 9, March 21,
2026
ARCHIVE
HOME
JBCENTRE
SUBSCRIBE
Zelensky European Tour to Shore-Up Support
Britain's "Defence Partnership" Aims to
Embed itself in Ukraine against Russia and Iran
Workers' Weekly Internet Edition
:
Article Index :
Zelensky European Tour to Shore-Up Support:
Britain's "Defence Partnership" Aims to Embed
itself in Ukraine against Russia and Iran
Britain's Militarisation:
The Need for an Anti-War Government
Zelensky
European Tour to Shore-Up Support
Britain's "Defence Partnership" Aims to
Embed itself in Ukraine against Russia and Iran
On Tuesday, March 17, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine visited
London for talks with the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer.
The
Telegraph
reported the visit as a "don't forget about me..."
European tour exposing panic in Ukraine that the US/Israeli war on Iran was now
capturing the "world's focus" of leaders and media alike. In fact,
the reports said that Zelensky was "welcomed by King Charles at Buckingham
Palace" with a "warm handshake and photograph"; he also
addressed "Parliamentarians" at a Westminster committee room that
included the Prime Minister, NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte, Defence
Secretary John Healey and leaders of opposition parties. Starmer focused on
Britain's affirming a "world leading partnership" and "our
shared determination to deepen our defence partnership" with Ukraine. The
Prime Minister's office also presented this as "support to partners in the
Gulf" and as a "defence partnership" against
"indiscriminate Iranian attacks" whilst continuing to escalate its
proxy war in Ukraine against Russia and use its "partner Ukraine" to
support the US/Israeli aggression against Iran.
In his speech, Zelensky also sought to link the US/Israeli war in the Middle
East against Iran with the long-running conflict in Ukraine, insulting the
Russian and Iranian governments as the "brothers in hatred".
Supposedly, the Anglo-US provoked NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and
the attack on Iran are "defensive" wars without hatred whilst killing
tens of thousands in their wars! Zelensky showed the subservience of his
Ukrainian regime to these warmongers when he boasted that there were now
"201 Ukrainian military experts in the Middle East", with
"another 44 ready to deploy", who were sharing their knowledge on how
to defend against Iranian drones in support of the US/Israeli attack on Iran.
Prior to Zelensky's visit, Starmer revealed who was pulling the strings, when
he had said on March 1 that Britain would "bring experts from Ukraine
together with our own experts" to help Gulf partners shoot down Iranian
drones. This is why Iran now sees Ukraine as part of the hostile anti-Iran
coalition associated with the US/Israeli criminal bombing of and aggression
against Iran.
During their talks, Starmer and Zelensky signed a "partnership"
[1] that will combine "Ukrainian expertise and the UK's industrial
base" to manufacture and supply drones and other capabilities. They
revisited the UK-Ukraine Strategic Dialogue [2] going through the "8
pillars" of the provocative "Landmark 100 Year Partnership
Agreement" signed in January last year. This agreement
Workers'
Weekly
condemned at the time as a British warmongering
"partnership" agreement with Ukraine. An agreement which is in the
service of Britain's imperialist ambitions, its monopolies and war industries.
It "reveals that the British and European leaders are not seeking a
permanent peace but are being forced to make concessions for the 'foreseeable
future' on their global ambitions" whilst they "continue to embed
themselves in their proxy state of Ukraine, and use it to weaken Russia in
Eastern Europe and Asia. [3]"
QinetiQ Drone - Ukraine utilises British QinetiQ Banshee
Jet 80 UAVs as long-range kamikaze drones.
This was the British agenda with its cartel party system supporting the
talks between Starmer and Zelensky. The Ukraine Defence Partnership reveals
Britain's global ambition to continue to embed itself in the Ukrainian state
and its war and other industries. Britain is doing this to continue to use
Ukraine and the Ukrainian people as its proxy army and weapons producer. It
also wants to use Ukraine to help rescue Britain's shattered ambitions in West
Asia and try to take advantage of the US/Israel war against Iran. It is using
Ukrainian forces and experts it has helped hone in the war against Russia
alongside British "advisors". But now Britain is once again engaged
in military actions in the Middle East against Iran.
In a government statement to parliament on Tuesday, Yvette Cooper, Secretary
of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, said [4]: "As
I speak, British Typhoons and F-35s are flying in defence of the eastern
Mediterranean and across Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and
Iraq. The UK's defensive military action is supporting the wider region, with
four extra Typhoons, three Wildcat helicopters and a Merlin helicopter already
deployed. We are increasing our naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean, as
HMS Dragon and RFA Lyme Bay approach. As the House is aware, we have given
permission for US forces to use long-standing basing at RAF Fairford and Diego
Garcia to support defensive strikes against the ballistic missiles that are
targeting the Gulf." These bases in Britain and in the Indian Ocean have
been used by the USAF to criminally bomb Iran as outright unprovoked aggression
- not as "defence". This
was followed by the further
allegation that "our Cyprus base is not being used in those US
operations". Yet it is being used, for, as a spokesperson for the Ministry
of Defence told the BBC on March 6, "Just this week, we have flown Typhoon
and F-35 fighter jets on sorties around the region, shooting down Iranian
drones." This base at RAF Akrotiri has long supported operations in the
Middle East and, more recently, been used for surveillance flights over Gaza in
support of Israeli genocide against the Palestinians.
The anti-war movement in Britain is facing the crucial task of opposing the
warmongering schemes of the British government and continuing to expose and
oppose these destructive military alliances with Ukraine. These include the
Ukraine "Landmark 100 Year Partnership Agreement" signed last year,
and the "UK-Ukraine joint statement: Enhanced Security and Defence
Industrial Collaboration Declaration", the "Ukraine Defence
Partnership", and the "Enhanced Security and Defence Industrial
Collaboration Declaration" signed this week by Starmer and Zelensky. These
agreements promoted by Britain, and by the Anglo/US-led NATO countries,
continue to promote and provoke and escalate war not just in Ukraine but in
West Asia and even in Africa and Asia where Ukrainian troops are also now
appearing. They aim to build infrastructure for war against Russia and Iran as
well as all over the world in the name of a "defensive alliances" and
"industrial collaborations". They must be opposed alongside the
warmongering NATO alliance itself. This is an urgent aim for all the movements
of the people for peace.
Notes
1. UK-Ukraine joint statement: Enhanced Security and Defence Industrial
Collaboration Declaration - GOV.UK
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-ukraine-joint-statement-enhanced-security-and-defence-industrial-collaboration-declaration
Ukraine Defence Partnership set to boost global production and national
security
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ukraine-defence-partnership-set-to-boost-global-production-and-national-security
2. The UK-Ukraine Strategic Dialogue - GOV.UK
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-uk-ukraine-strategic-dialogue
3. UK and Ukraine sign "Landmark 100 Year Partnership Agreement":
Starmer's Vain Attempt to Ensure Ukraine Remains NATO's Proxy against Russia,
Workers' Weekly
, January 25, 2025
https://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-25/ww25-01/ww25-01-01.htm
4. Yvette Cooper The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and
Development Affairs update on Middle east
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2026-03-17/debates/5E7F5053-690E-47A6-926D-6A2B1A904946/MiddleEast
Article Index
Britain's
Militarisation
The Need
for an Anti-War Government
Based on a presentation given at a London RCPB(ML)
discussion meeting
What did Prime Minister Keir Starmer mean by saying the British state has
been "feeble" as he did last year? This means that the working class
and people should expect increased rule on the basis of the police powers of
the executive, of police rule, with even the possibility of this being extended
to military powers. In other words, it also applies to militarisation, where it
is used as a reason for strengthening the military, increasing the spending on
so-called "defence". The government's Strategic Defence Review was
announced by the Prime Minister in June last year. This, as Starmer said then,
aims to turn Britain's already
military-dominated economy into a fully militarised economy and to put
British society on a war footing. And Starmer's words on Britain's engagement
in the war against Iran have demonstrated the fraud of "defence"
versus "attack" and the actual subservience to Trump's wanton
exercise of extreme violence, warmongering and contempt for all international
norms.
Furthermore, it is not only an issue with the government directly, but the
issue of putting arms manufacturers at the centre of the war machine. Keir
Starmer's aspiration is to put Britain and its arms industries at the centre of
a militarised Europe. British arms exports have soared to a record £9.2bn.
The value of UK "single individual" licences for arms exports in 2024
(the latest full-year figures) increased by 86% to reach a record £9.2bn.
Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Qatar, and the US are the top recipients. There is a
close relationship between British and US arms industries. The figure of
£9.2bn does not cover exports under unlimited "open" licences.
The Campaign against the Arms Trade (CAAT) estimates these account for roughly
half of all UK arms exports. And for some countries and regions, including the
US and West Asia, a substantial majority of exports go through open licences.
The major legal, regulated arms and defence manufacturers operating in
Britain, producing defence systems, aerospace technology, naval systems,
vehicles, electronics and other equipment, are [1]:
BAE Systems:
Sector: Aerospace, naval systems, armoured vehicles,
munitions; Notes: Largest defence contractor in the UK; major supplier to MoD;
Products: Typhoon fighter (with partners), submarines, artillery, naval ships
Rolls Royce Defence:
Sector: Military jet engines, naval nuclear
propulsion; Products: Engines for Typhoon, Hawk, and naval reactors
Leonardo UK:
Sector: Radar, helicopters, avionics, electronic
warfare; Products: AW159 Wildcat, AESA radars, defensive systems
MBDA UK:
Sector: Missiles and missile systems; Products: Brimstone,
Meteor, Sea Ceptor
Thales UK:
Sector: Sensors, communications, naval systems; Products:
Sonar, optronics, air defence components
QinetiQ:
Sector: Defence research, robotics, testing; Products:
Robotics, sensors, test ranges
Babcock International:
Sector: Naval engineering, shipbuilding,
support; Products: Type 31 frigate programme
BAE Systems Munitions (formerly Royal Ordnance):
Sector: Small arms
ammunition, artillery shells; Products: 5.56mm, 7.62mm, 155mm shells
Ultra Electronics:
Sector: Submarine systems, sonar, communications
Chemring Group:
Sector: Countermeasures, pyrotechnics, sensors;
Products: Flares, decoys, explosives detection
Other notable companies producing components, vehicles, electronics, or
support systems are:
London demonstration confronting the US Embassy, March 7
2026
Marshall Aerospace & Defence - military shelters, aircraft support;
Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) - armoured vehicles (e.g., Boxer): Supacat
- high-mobility military vehicles; Jankel Group - protected vehicles, armour
systems; Meggitt (now part of Parker) - aerospace components, defence systems;
Cranfield Aerospace - aerospace engineering; AWE (Atomic Weapons Establishment)
- nuclear warhead stewardship (highly regulated); BAE Systems Maritime -
submarines and warships
Some key issues arising are the arms sales to Israel in the context of the
genocidal war on Gaza; the government's push to sell Eurofighter Typhoon
aircraft to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey; and the sale of arms to the United
Arab Emirates (UAE) in the context of the UAE's role in arming the Rapid
Support Forces (RSF) militia in Sudan. Britain is also to procure more
anti-drone missiles in show of support for Gulf allies.
Companies which have links with supplying weapons to Israel, and vice versa
the Israeli military firms which have links in Britain, are as follows [2]:
1. Israeli arms companies with a UK footprint
RAF conducts first air strikes of Iraq mission - Photo:
MOD
Elbit Systems & Elbit Systems UK
Role: Israel's largest arms producer; describes its drones as the
"backbone" of Israel's drone fleet.
UK presence: CAAT lists four UK subsidiaries-Instro Precision, Elite KL,
Ferranti Technologies, UAV Engines-plus joint ventures UAV Technologies (with
Thales UK) and Affinity (with KBR).
Facilities: Some UK sites have been the focus of sustained protest and at
least one closure has been reported in Bristol.
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)
Role: State-owned Israeli arms company, among the world's largest.
UK link: Contracted to supply Jaguar Remote Patrol Vehicles to the UK for
unmanned land systems trials.
Rafael & Israel Military Industries (IMI)
Role: Along with Elbit and IAI, these form the core of Israel's arms
industry, exporting globally.
UK link: Their equipment and components appear in international supply
chains; CAAT flags them as key Israeli suppliers, though specific UK-plant
footprints are less prominent than Elbit's.
2. UK and European manufacturers tied into Israeli projects
Thales UK
Type of link: Joint programmes and technology sharing with Elbit.
Example: The Watchkeeper WK450 UAV, delivered to the UK under an ~£800m
contract, is based on Elbit's Hermes drone platform.
UAV Tactical Systems / "UAV Technologies" JV
Structure: Joint venture between Elbit and Thales UK, operating in the UK.
Role: Involved in production and support of the Watchkeeper UAV system used
by the British Army.
Affinity (Elbit + KBR)
Type of link: Joint venture providing UK military flight training services
and platforms.
There are many smaller industries which produce components for military
hardware. Many UK-based arms and dual-use manufacturers may have export
licences to Israel (or to programmes involving Israeli end-users), even if they
do not advertise it. Those links show up in UK Strategic Export Controls data
and NGO analyses rather than in neat corporate lists.
Israel now possesses 48 F-35 combat jets, 15% of which is made in the UK.
Israel has been using its F-35s in so-called "beast mode" to bomb
Gaza.
Britain, along with France and Germany, is also contributing significantly
to the militarisation of Europe. In July 2025, Britain and France signed the
Northwood and the Lancaster House 2.0 declarations. The former concerns nuclear
co-operation between Britain and France, committing both states to
co-ordinating nuclear policy, capabilities and operations. The latter,
according to the British government, is said to reboot, modernise and build
upon the bilateral defence and security relationship between the two countries,
including under the Lancaster House Treaties, in order to "effect a
generational shift in both our bilateral co-operation and our joint
contribution to the defence of Europe" through co-operation on nuclear
weapons, overhauling the existing Combined Joint Expeditionary Force, and
"bringing our defence industries and militaries closer than ever before to
strengthen NATO".
At the Munich Security Conference in February, Keir Starmer affirmed:
"We must go beyond the historic steps that we took at last year's UK-EU
summit to build the formidable productive power and innovative strength that we
need. British companies already account for over a quarter of the continent's
defence industrial base."
Regarding the role of AI in militarisation, it is being described as
compressing military kill chains from days to seconds, a shift that the Iran
war has made impossible to ignore. But the technology is outpacing
accountability: civilian harm frameworks have been dismantled, targeting
lawyers fired, and over 1,200 Iranian civilians killed as the Pentagon
prioritises lethality over deliberation. Britain has awarded 26 arms firms
lucrative contracts to develop its own autonomous targeting systems - this is
despite numerous atrocities in Gaza - and now, Iran - being linked with
haphazard AI kill chain systems. Gaza has been a testing ground for AI in
warfare.
Drone Wars'
Chris Cole has said: "While militaries are
keen to use AI to speed up decision making around lethal strikes, there are
serious ethical and legal concerns about these developments, with increasing
evidence that ratcheting up the number of strikes leads to greater danger for
civilians."
As well as the US effectively having over a dozen bases on British soil,
Britain has bases abroad in connection with its colonial past. For example, in
Cyprus, not only was the Akrotiri base targeted in the waves of retaliation
against Britain's aggression, but the campaign of the people of Cyprus against
the presence of British bases had been steadily growing since well before that.
Britain also hosts four US spy facilities on Cyprus. The complicity of Starmer
with the US-Israeli genocide in Gaza was also exposed when hundreds of
surveillance flights were sent by Britain over Gaza from Akrotiri. Officially
they were looking for hostages, but no evidence has ever been provided that
they helped find any, raising concerns that Israel could have used intelligence
from the planes for its general war effort. US military transport planes were
also allowed to pass through Akrotiri en route to Israel.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has refused to disclose to the media or
parliament how many Iranian civilians have been killed by US bombing missions
from British air bases. Keir Starmer says that US strikes from RAF Fairford in
Gloucestershire and the British-occupied Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia
were "to destroy [Iran's] missiles at source, in their storage depots or
at their launchers".
With militarisation and the push to develop war industries, international
norms and the international rule of law are counting for nothing, and it counts
for nothing for governments like Britain's that Trump's wanton violence is
carried out in pulverising these norms and laws, whatever Starmer may say.
For example, on January 7, United States military forces, supported by
British forces, intercepted the oil tanker in the Atlantic Ocean south of
Iceland. The ship was sailed towards the UK, arrived in the Moray Firth on
January 13 and anchored there in British territorial waters. Subsequently, the
captain and first officer were removed from UK jurisdiction by the US
Coastguard to face criminal charges in the United States. The British
government agreed to a request from the US to provide support for repatriation
of the remaining 26 members of the
Bella 1
crew who had not been
arrested (none of whom were UK nationals). The whole affair was conducted, as
part of the US targeting of Venezuela and its oil shipments, in contravention
of recognised international law.
The imposition of a blockade on Venezuela has been condemned by many
sources, including UN experts and international lawyers: there is no right to
enforce unilateral sanctions through an armed blockade. The US has broken the
prohibition on the use force contained in the UN Charter and Britain has acted
unlawfully by providing logistical and military support for the US action.
Protesters at the Munich Security Conference, February 14
2026
In the movement against militarisation and war, the working class and people
have to work to consolidate themselves as the power to combat the warmongering,
violence, dictate and militarism of the ruling elite. They must set their
sights on constituting themselves as an Anti-War Government, and all that
entails about authority and power resting with the people who desire peace. The
youth must not be made cannon-fodder in the wars of the ruling elite and the
armaments industry!
The anti-war movement is demanding that the government end its
militarisation - to end all involvement in the US and Israel's war on Iran,
including stopping the use of British bases here and in Cyprus for military
attacks, and to join the growing international calls for an immediate end to
the bombing. The anti-war movement truly has the crucial task of opposing the
warmongering schemes of the British government, whether here in Britain, or
with the self-titled "coalition of the willing" in the proxy war
against Russia in Ukraine, or in alliance with the US regime in the Middle
East.
The resistance to Britain's militarisation is growing, and it is a central
part of the Party's work to bring out and inspire the human factor/social
consciousness in this transitional period of history. In that context, the
implications of what an Anti-War Government mean present themselves to be
elaborated. In a word, it means something new, something from which everyone
can gain confidence, as they do more than simply react to the retrogression
linked with the restructuring of the state to ensure that governments are
constituted by oligarchs or representatives of those vested private interests.
It can be seen that militarisation is not simply a rise in "defence
spending", but is the road along which these oligarchs and governments are
taking society. So the anti-war movement in its direction towards an Anti-War
Government does more than react, or put its faith in a limited number of justly
supported figures who take a stand against imperialist war, but works out ways
to concretise how society must be organised so that sovereignty lies with the
people and eventually political power is grasped, and the state acquires a
modern democratic personality. The strength and future lies with the people as
they break with the old conscience of society and fight for the alternative.
The call is for a modern state which enshrines the rights of all by virtue
of being human and their concrete reality. The alternative is being created as
working people themselves constitute the authority at each turn of events and
decide directly how to intervene to make sure whatever the ruling class is
implementing at their expense cannot succeed. This means that those who
currently deprive the people of power must themselves be deprived of the power
to rule with impunity.
Britain Urgently Needs an Anti-War Government!
Notes
1. Retrieved via AI.
2. Retrieved via AI.
(other sources: The Canary, Declassified, Drone Wars, CAAT, Workers'
Weekly)
Article Index
Receive Workers'
Weekly E-mail Edition:
It is free to
subscribe to the e-mail edition
We encourage all those who support the work of RCPB(ML) to also support it
financially:
Donate to
RCPB(ML)
WW Internet
RSS Feed
Workers' Weekly
is the weekly on
line newspaper of the
Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist)
Website:
http://www.rcpbml.org.uk
E-mail:
office@rcpbml.org.uk
170, Wandsworth Road, London, SW8 2LA.
Phone: 020 7627 0599:
RCPB(ML) Home Page
Workers' Weekly Online
Archive