Starmer's Ukraine pledge reveals the rot at the heart of the UK

On August 24^th, Ukraine Independence Day, Keir Starmer pledged to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes” in a war that has killed over 500,000 Ukrainians - most likely an underestimate -, wounded over a million and seen the exodus of millions more. The UN predicts Ukraine’s population will fall from a pre-war 45 million to just 15 million by 2100.

Before the war, Ukraine was rated the most corrupt nation in Europe. In January, CIA Director Bill Burns warned Zelensky that ‘he was taking a larger share of the skim money than was going to the generals.’ How else could Zelensky and his wife pay up to 75 million Euros for Sting’s Tuscan wine estate? (See also this - it’s in Russian: https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/dbfd6951-3d06-4720-bc4a-fd9cf94042d0)

Zelensky’s post-war Tuscan retreat

As I’ve written before, this war was preventable had the US agreed to Ukrainian neutrality, i.e., not allow it to join NATO. Russia viewed Ukraine’s NATO membership as an existential threat, just as the US would view Russia establishing a military presence in Mexico or Canada as an existential threat. When Ukraine negotiated a peace agreement in Istanbul with Russia in April 2022, US lapdog Boris Johnson was dispatched to Kiev to tell Zelensky to ditch it because the US and NATO had his back.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revealed the real reason the US is fighting this proxy war. It’s not to ‘defend Ukrainian democracy’ of which there is precious little, but to weaken the Russian state which it has failed to do.

There’s another reason the US/NATO is fighting the war - to feed the voracious appetite of the military industrial complex (MIC), a lobby that has almost as much power over the US Congress and President as the Israel lobby. Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, Chief of Staff to US Secretary of State Colin Powell, said that in the early 1990s, Bill Clinton set up a commission manned by military contractors to decide whether NATO should be expanded. No surprise what they concluded.  

But back to the UK. An April report by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) reveals that Ukraine is now the largest recipient of UK bilateral funding by a country mile - £228 million in 2023/24. In addition, the UK has pledged £7.1 billion in military aid since 2022, £1.6 billion in fiscal guarantees with another £3 billion over the next three years. That’s nearly £12 billion and counting. There’s never any ‘black hole’ when it comes to war spending.

Like the US, the UK arms industry has wormed its way into the apparatus of government, wielding outsize influence over policy decisions. It does this via the revolving door between industry, the military and government, and the presence of industry bodies such as the arms export unit within the Department of International Trade (DTI).

Meanwhile, Starmer’s government is busy slashing benefits to the most vulnerable and warning that the autumn budget will be ‘painful’, but not for him, the well-off or his corporate donors. His economically clueless Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, seems to relish her Cruella role.  

To escape this miserable situation, Scots must first understand that they are sovereign over any government, meaning they have the right to determine the form of government best suited to their needs. Even Westminster has acknowledged this. Then they need to use their sovereign power to end Scotland’s subservient position within this failing state.