UK HAS TO PREPARE TO SEND TROOPS TO BACK UKRAINE PEACE DEAL, SAYS WES STREETING
THE UK has to prepare for the prospect of sending troops to Ukraine as part of a peace deal and to block Russian expansionism, according to Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
He said on GB News: “No Prime Minister or government takes the deployment of British service men and women lightly.
“What the Prime Minister is doing is rightly preparing for a scenario in which President Trump’s initiative to end the war in Ukraine is successful and we need to secure the peace, because we should be in no doubt that Ukraine’s front line is Britain’s front line.
“We have got an imperialist, expansionist Russian president who has been a threat to this country’s national security before, remains an ongoing threat to this country’s national security, and has shown his willingness to invade sovereign territories of other European countries.
“So, as we work together with our friends in America and across Europe and, crucially, President Zelensky and Ukrainians themselves, it’s really important that we are preparing for a scenario in which a peace deal has been agreed, and we are working with our allies to secure that peace and deter any future Russian aggression.”
Asked about Labour’s plans for defence spending, in a discussion during Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Ellie Costello, he added: “Regardless of what’s agreed with our allies in relation to Ukraine, this government came in with a clear commitment and conviction that we need to get defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, both to redress the under investment in our armed forces we’ve had for more than a decade under our Conservative predecessors, but also to equip Britain to withstand emerging and future threats to our national security in a volatile and changing world.
“And so that’s the context in which the Prime Minister asked George Robertson, who, as well as being a former Labour Defence Secretary, is also a former Secretary General of NATO, to conduct our strategic defence review, and the outcome of that review will be feeding into the Chancellor’s announcements at the spending review and throughout the decisions she takes throughout this parliament.
“We don’t doubt there are real pressures arising as a result. And in fact, right across the board, we’ve got real pressures on our public finances. That’s why, frankly, in the last seven months, we’ve had to take some decisions that have been unpopular because Britain was left in a massive hole.
“We’ve taken decisions with a view to getting Britain out of that hole, and in recognition that whether it’s the scale of the crisis in our NHS, the pressures on defence, or indeed a wide range of other pressures, including the pressures families are feeling in their pockets, we’ve got a hell of a job on our hands.
“That’s a job we were elected to do, and as we’re announcing today on the NHS, we are delivering on our promises, but there’s still a mountain to climb.”
Asked about the proposed Chagos Islands deal, he said: “The Conservatives have taken themselves to dizzying new heights of hypocrisy.
“These were negotiations that began under a Conservative government, were well advanced under a Conservative government, and the moment the voters changed the government, the Conservatives apparently changed all of their convictions and now want to suggest that this was a sort of Labour initiative.
“The situation concerning Chagos is complex. The islands are critical for our national security, for our American allies, and for Western defence and security. That’s the context in which negotiations under Conservative and Labour-led governments have been taking place.
“I’ve got no further update to offer you this morning about the status of those negotiations, but that is the context in which Labour ministers have been engaging in good faith.
“And I dare say, our Conservative predecessors engaged in good faith until they lost the election and apparently lost their memories at the same time.”
