Sir Keir Starmer said on Monday he was ready to deploy nuclear weapons if needed to defend Britain from attack, as Labour promoted its national security credentials for next month’s election.
“My commitment to the nuclear deterrent is absolute,” the Labour leader said at a campaign event in Greater Manchester, joined by 10 out of 14 armed forces veterans who are standing for the party on July 4.
“Of course that means we have to be prepared to use it.”
No leader would spell out the circumstances in which they would use nuclear weaponry, “but it is there as a vital part of our defence”, Sir Keir said.
He also pressed back at Conservative attacks on some of his frontbench colleagues’ past opposition to the Trident nuclear deterrent.
“I lead this party. I’ve changed this party,” he said. “I’ve got my whole shadow cabinet behind me on this.”
Unlike some of his current shadow cabinet colleagues such as David Lammy and Angela Rayner, Sir Keir voted in 2016 to maintain Trident.
Shadow defence secretary John Healey insisted that they had all changed their minds, telling Times Radio: “The world's changed. The Labour Party's changed.
“Each frontbencher for Labour now knows this, accepts this and fully supports this.
“The nuclear deterrent is the bedrock of our national security. And in government, exactly the same stance will be adopted by all of them.”
Eight years ago, when the anti-nuclear Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader, Mr Lammy cited his Christian faith as to why he could not support renewing Trident.
The shadow foreign secretary has since adopted a more muscular approach on defence in line with other members of Sir Keir’s top team.
“I know his views have changed,” Mr Healey said, pointing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s increased assertiveness.
“And he fully supports Keir Starmer’s announcement of the triple lock on that deterrent today and our commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5% of what this country owns, the GDP.”
Sir Keir on Monday outlined a three-pronged defence commitment which entails a commitment to build four new nuclear submarines in Barrow-in-Furness; maintaining Britain’s continuous at-sea deterrent; and the delivery of all future upgrades needed for the submarine fleet.
The current Vanguard-class submarines are due to be replaced by the bigger Dreadnought-class submarines in the next decade, and up to £41 billion has been earmarked for the replacement programme.
Rishi Sunak says the Conservatives would meet the 2.5% target for defence spending by 2030. Sir Keir reiterated that it would happen “as soon as possible” under a Labour government, when economic conditions allow.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Labour’s refusal to commit to 2.5% defence spending by 2030 shows that they are a danger to our national security.
“Uncertain times call for a clear plan and bold action to chart a course to a secure future, only the Conservatives offer that,” he said, arguing that Sir Keir’s backing for Trident was “meaningless”.
