Babak Belurs

Sabtu, 13 April 2024

Alan Bates considers private prosecutions of Post Office bosses - BBC

Alan Bates outside Aldwych House for the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry on Tuesday

By James Gregory

BBC News

Former sub-postmaster Alan Bates says he will consider raising funds for private prosecutions of Post Office bosses over the Horizon IT scandal.

He told the BBC he would act if the authorities did not take cases forward.

"It was fine when the Post Office brought private prosecutions, so if we've got to do it in return so be it", he said.

More than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted for shortfalls caused by faulty Horizon software.

Many of the prosecutions were brought by the Post Office itself.

Former Royal Mail and Post Office executives, who were in charge when sub-postmasters and mistresses were being falsely accused, told an inquiry into the scandal this week that they did not realise what had been happening at the time.

Mr Bates, who led the campaign for justice after he was sacked for discrepancies in his accounts, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he wanted clarity about the remit of the inquiry.

"We heard from many lawyers along the way that there does seem to be quite a number of cases for people to answer," he said.

"I know there's financial redress for the individuals in there but they also want to see people held to account in all of this.

"As I understand it, the inquiry as it now stands is not going to make that type of recommendation [to prosecute].

"Perhaps MPs should consider changing the remit to include that type of recommendation if it's not there in the first instance."

In comments first made to the Times, he said he would consider crowdfunding for private prosecutions against former Post Office bosses - similar to the mechanism used by the organisation against sub-postmasters it accused of stealing.

Speaking earlier this week at the inquiry, Mr Bates accused the organisation of lying about the accounting system and of spending years trying to "discredit and silence him".

The Post Office has apologised for the "hurt and suffering" caused by the scandal and said it was committed to ensuring the victims and their families received the "justice and redress that they so deserve".

On Friday, the inquiry heard from former Post Office managing director Alan Cook, who was in charge of the organisation between 2006 and 2010.

He said he did not realise that sub-postmasters were being prosecuted solely by the Post Office until 2009.

He said when he was told cases "went to court" he presumed that the police had been involved, and only found out later that roughly two thirds of cases against Horizon victims had been brought by the Post Office.

During Mr Cook's time at the top, the Post Office secured 292 Horizon convictions in England and Wales.

These years saw some of the highest numbers of convictions using Horizon data, according to evidence submitted to the inquiry by Simon Recaldin, director of the Post Office's remediation unit.

The Metropolitan Police is investigating the Post Office over potential fraud offences arising from the prosecutions.

Mr Bates has been campaigning on behalf of sub-postmasters for decades and was recently catapulted into the national spotlight by an ITV drama about the scandal, Mr Bates vs The Post Office.

Related Topics

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiJmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3VrLTY4ODA1NTU20gEqaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmJjLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvdWstNjg4MDU1NTYuYW1w?oc=5

2024-04-13 09:33:40Z
CBMiJmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3VrLTY4ODA1NTU20gEqaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmJjLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvdWstNjg4MDU1NTYuYW1w

Liz Truss book says husband predicted premiership ‘would all end in tears’ - The Guardian

Liz Truss ran for Conservative leader and prime minister despite her husband’s prediction that “it would all end in tears”, according to her book, Ten Years to Save the West, which will be published in the UK and US next week.

She agreed with an ally that the mini-budget she planned to introduce once elected would prompt “brutal turbulence”, then resigned after just 49 days in power, seeing herself as “the Brian Clough of prime ministers”. The Guardian has obtained a copy of the book.

Truss became prime minister on 6 September 2022 after Boris Johnson was forced to resign. In her book, she describes learning of Johnson’s exit while in Bali as foreign secretary.

“As I walked along the beach in Indonesia I started crying,” Truss writes, in one of a number of frank admissions of human frailties under pressure, including descriptions of struggling to cope after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, just two days after their meeting confirmed Truss as prime minister.

The possibility of further tears was raised, she writes, when she asked her husband, Hugh O’Leary, if he thought she should run.

“Even Hugh, who predicted it would all end in tears, accepted that this was the moment I was expected to run and that if I didn’t, people would say I had bottled it,” Truss writes.

She says her political agent in her Norfolk constituency said “I should run – but he thought it would be best if I came second”.

In the event, Truss did finish second in voting by Conservative MPs, behind Rishi Sunak. But Truss’s popularity with Conservative party members, the decisive electorate, was enough to see her become prime minister.

In partnership with her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, a long-term ally, Truss sought to implement drastic economic action that she thought – and still thinks, according to her book – was needed to save the UK economy.

Though she divined “an environment deeply hostile to the economic policies we were advancing: tax cuts, supply-side reform and public spending restraint”, and indeed thought her government not “ready for this level of [media] onslaught”, Truss ploughed on with plans for a mini-budget.

Describing a “walk through the woods at Chevening”, the foreign secretary’s country residence, she says Simon Clarke, then chief secretary to the Treasury and another close ally, “with typical understatement suggested we were in for a ‘bracing time’”.

“I … said it would be a brutal six months of turbulence and we would have to batten down the hatches,” Truss writes.

In the event, the mini-budget produced a full-blown hurricane: a pensions crisis that Truss now insists she did not see coming amid predictions of economic disaster. Kwarteng was replaced by Jeremy Hunt but Truss had lost control. On 20 October she resigned.

Analysing her failed premiership, Truss admits faults but also apportions blame, particularly to what she calls the “administrative”, “leftist” or “deep” state: bureaucrats and officials, particularly at the Treasury and the Bank of England.

She also delivers a remarkable allusion to another polarising figure: the former Leeds United and Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough.

Noting that the first leadership hustings against Sunak was held at Elland Road, home of Leeds United, in the city where she grew up, Truss writes: “In my speech there, I made reference to Don Revie, the legendary manager of the 1970s Leeds team that had won the league who then went on to manage England.”

Clough, Truss writes, “took over from Revie at the club in 1974. As dramatised in the film The Damned United, Clough tried to shake up the team and get them to play better … the players rebelled and Clough was sacked after just 44 days.

“In the final days of my premiership, I had said to my private secretary, Nick Catsaras: ‘If the Conservative party bin me after six weeks and I’m the Brian Clough of prime ministers, then so be it.’ I lasted 49 days.”

Truss is not the first writer to compare herself to Clough at Leeds. Writing in the Guardian last month, the Cambridge politics professor David Runciman considered Truss’s “brief and calamitous premiership”, the shortest in UK history, and her attempts to remain on the global stage, of which the book is a key part.

“Stepping back from the fray is not the Liz Truss way,” Runciman wrote. “Instead, she seems to be modelling herself on another public figure who crashed and burned shortly after reaching the pinnacle of his profession.”

Clough’s “precipitate failure was a humiliation for such a strident and self-confident man”, Runciman wrote. “What saved him was that it was over so quickly. He was able to say … that he hadn’t been given enough time to tackle the deep-seated problems he had inherited. That the people who fired him were cowards, and he was the victim of vested interests who never wanted him to succeed in the first place. Being kicked out after barely a month was evidence that he never stood a chance.”

Clough took Nottingham Forest to the English league title and two European Cups. Like Clough, Runciman wrote, Truss now “appears to believe that lasting little more than a month in a job she had aspired to all her adult life is evidence not of her profound incompetence but of her virtue”.

Rather than manage Nottingham Forest, Truss formed Popular Conservatism, a group to promote libertarian rightwing policies.

On the page, Truss repeatedly says Ten Years to Save the West is less a memoir than a prescription for her global political vision. Accordingly, the book is being heavily promoted in the US. Next Monday, Truss will appear at the Heritage Foundation, a hard-right Washington thinktank behind Project 2025, a vast plan to institute radical and discriminatory policies should Donald Trump be re-elected.

Attenders at Heritage HQ, on Massachusetts Avenue, are promised a conversation between Truss and Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, about “fighting the global left”. A light lunch will be available afterwards.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMieWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZWd1YXJkaWFuLmNvbS9wb2xpdGljcy8yMDI0L2Fwci8xMy9saXotdHJ1c3MtYm9vay1zYXlzLWh1c2JhbmQtcHJlZGljdGVkLXByZW1pZXJzaGlwLXdvdWxkLWFsbC1lbmQtaW4tdGVhcnPSAXlodHRwczovL2FtcC50aGVndWFyZGlhbi5jb20vcG9saXRpY3MvMjAyNC9hcHIvMTMvbGl6LXRydXNzLWJvb2stc2F5cy1odXNiYW5kLXByZWRpY3RlZC1wcmVtaWVyc2hpcC13b3VsZC1hbGwtZW5kLWluLXRlYXJz?oc=5

2024-04-13 06:15:00Z
CBMieWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZWd1YXJkaWFuLmNvbS9wb2xpdGljcy8yMDI0L2Fwci8xMy9saXotdHJ1c3MtYm9vay1zYXlzLWh1c2JhbmQtcHJlZGljdGVkLXByZW1pZXJzaGlwLXdvdWxkLWFsbC1lbmQtaW4tdGVhcnPSAXlodHRwczovL2FtcC50aGVndWFyZGlhbi5jb20vcG9saXRpY3MvMjAyNC9hcHIvMTMvbGl6LXRydXNzLWJvb2stc2F5cy1odXNiYW5kLXByZWRpY3RlZC1wcmVtaWVyc2hpcC13b3VsZC1hbGwtZW5kLWluLXRlYXJz

The wrong defence debate - The Telegraph

Sir Keir Starmer has stated that he will aim to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP should his party win the next election, and recommitted to the maintenance of Britain’s independent Trident nuclear deterrent. The spirit of his words is clearly welcome; the substance, however, leaves something to be desired.

Once again, Britain is having the wrong debate on defence. It is good that attention is finally being paid to the need to expand and modernise our Armed Forces, but we must now be clear about the scale of the task ahead of us. It is no longer a matter of tweaking the budget by half a percentage point here or there, but ensuring we have the ability to defend our interests.

So far, the Conservative Party has failed to grasp this. Both the current Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps, and his predecessor Ben Wallace have had pleas for additional funding turned down. Sir Keir’s statement contained careful wording – and his pledge to raise spending “as soon as resources allow that to happen” may not be so different in practice to the Conservatives’ own “as soon as economic conditions allow”. But polling indicates that he is cutting through with the public on defence, and that the Tories risk being outflanked by Labour.

Rishi Sunak should respond by triggering a new national conversation on defence. In an increasingly dangerous world, it is time to set out the capabilities we need, and fund them, rather than continuing to tweak our capabilities to suit our budget.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiXWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRlbGVncmFwaC5jby51ay9vcGluaW9uLzIwMjQvMDQvMTMvZGVmZW5jZS1zcGVuZGluZy1nZHAta2Vpci1zdGFybWVyLXJpc2hpLXN1bmFrL9IBAA?oc=5

2024-04-13 05:00:00Z
CBMiXWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRlbGVncmFwaC5jby51ay9vcGluaW9uLzIwMjQvMDQvMTMvZGVmZW5jZS1zcGVuZGluZy1nZHAta2Vpci1zdGFybWVyLXJpc2hpLXN1bmFrL9IBAA

Jumat, 12 April 2024

Alan Bates vows to raise funds to prosecute Post Office bosses if inquiry fails - The Telegraph

Alan Bates said he will fundraise to put Post Office bosses behind bars if sub-postmasters are “failed” by the inquiry into the Horizon scandal.

The former sub-postmaster led colleagues to a High Court victory against the organisation in 2019.

Mr Bates said he was “certain” he would be able to raise the money to pursue private prosecutions if necessary.

“In so many other scandals, the people who make decisions and ruin numerous lives walk away scot-free. We are not prepared to do that,” he told The Times.

“We, as a group, will bring private prosecutions if the authorities fail us once again. If we try to raise that money, I am absolutely certain that we will raise that money.”

The Post Office inquiry is examining the scandal that saw more than 900 other sub-postmasters wrongfully prosecuted as a result of fictional shortfalls produced by faulty Horizon software.

Former Post Office workers celebrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice after their convictions were overturned by the Court of Appeal Credit: Alamy

On Friday, the inquiry heard that Paula Vennells, the former Post Office chief executive, “likely” signed off a trial bill of more than £300,000 after a sub-postmaster was blamed for a £25,000 shortfall at his branch.

Lee Castleton, 55, who was played by actor Will Mellor in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs. The Post Office, was forced to declare bankruptcy in 2007 after the Post Office pursued him through the civil courts.

Alan Cook, the former Post Office managing director, told the public inquiry how Ms Vennells “likely” signed off the legal budget. The former chief executive joined the Post Office as its network director and would have been in this role at the time.

Questioning Mr Cook on the £300,000 spent, inquiry chair Sir Wyn Williams said: “What I want to ask you is, what was the process back in 2006 for authorising the expenditure of those sums of money in the Post Office?”

As part of his response, Mr Cook said: “We had delegated authorities in place that would allow people below me, that would have probably lied with Paula Vennells as the network director, would have been able to sign that off.”

Clarifying, Sir Wyn then asked: “So what it amounts to is there would have been a person within the Post Office organisation who would have authority to sign off spending the money without talking either to you or to the board?”

“Correct,” responded Mr Cook.

The inquiry chairman continued: “So did you tell me the most likely person was Paula Vennells?”

Mr Cook replied: “Yes, I think so.”

At another point during his evidence, Mr Cook, who held the managing director role from 2006 to the early part of 2010, was also shown an email in which he blamed shortfalls on sub-postmasters with their “hand in the till”.

In an email sent in October 2009 to Mary Fagan, former corporate affairs director of Royal Mail, Mr Cook said: “My instincts tell me that, in a recession, subbies with their hand in the till choose to blame the technology when they are found to be short of cash.”

The pair were discussing increasing press interest about concerns surrounding the accuracy of Horizon.

Asked why it was his instinct to think that sub-postmasters were stealing, Mr Cook told the inquiry: “Well, that was an expression I will regret for the rest of my life.

“It is an inappropriate thing to put in an email, not in line with my view of sub-postmasters.”

Mr Cook’s evidence was followed by that of Adam Crozier, the ex-Royal Mail Group (RMG) chief executive who is now chairman of BT Group.

Mr Crozier left RMG in 2010 after seven years as its chief executive, a time in which it was the Post Office’s parent company before it was privatised.

Both Mr Crozier and Mr Cook offered apologies to postmasters and their families affected by the scandal.

However, they also both appeared to claim they did not initially know the organisations they presided over brought prosecutions against sub-postmasters.

Mr Cook, who said he only came to realise this in 2009 after he saw an article about Horizon victims in Computer Weekly, described his lack of knowledge on the subject as a “regret”, saying he had “never come across a situation before that a trading entity could initiate criminal prosecutions themselves”.

Questioning Mr Crozier, Jason Beer KC, lead counsel to the inquiry, asked: “Were you not aware that in fact there was no Post Office legal team – it had no separate legal in-house function and that civil and criminal proceedings were brought by lawyers within the Royal Mail Group legal team?”

Mr Crozier said: “I was not, no.”

Mr Beer continued: “So lawyers from within the group gave advice on prosecutions, they made decisions about prosecutions and within prosecutions, and they conducted the proceedings, not any Post Office lawyers, you didn’t know that?”

Mr Crozier replied: “I was not aware of that, no.”

The former ITV chief executive, who did not appear in the channel’s drama about the Horizon scandal, was also asked how he would feel about Mr Cook not knowing that the Post Office was initiating its own prosecutions against sub-postmasters.

“I would find that surprising,” Mr Crozier said in response.

Lawyers for Ms Vennells previously released a statement on her behalf that said: “I continue to support and focus on co-operating with the inquiry and expect to be giving evidence in the coming months.

“I am truly sorry for the devastation caused to the sub-postmasters and their families, whose lives were torn apart by being wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted as a result of the Horizon system.

“I now intend to continue to focus on assisting the inquiry and will not make any further public comment until it has concluded.”

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiaGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRlbGVncmFwaC5jby51ay9uZXdzLzIwMjQvMDQvMTIvYWxhbi1iYXRlcy1yYWlzZS1mdW5kcy1wcm9zZWN1dGUtcG9zdC1vZmZpY2UtYm9zc2VzLWlucXVpcnkv0gEA?oc=5

2024-04-12 20:06:00Z
CBMiaGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRlbGVncmFwaC5jby51ay9uZXdzLzIwMjQvMDQvMTIvYWxhbi1iYXRlcy1yYWlzZS1mdW5kcy1wcm9zZWN1dGUtcG9zdC1vZmZpY2UtYm9zc2VzLWlucXVpcnkv0gEA

Post Office scandal: Ex-boss accused subpostmasters in email of having 'their hand in the till' - Sky News

A Post Office boss blamed cash shortfalls caused by computer glitches on branch managers "with their hand in the till".

An email written by Alan Cook, who was managing director of the group from 2006 to 2010, has been read out to the public inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal.

Giving evidence on Friday, he said it was an expression he would "regret for the rest of my life".

Mr Cook was at the helm when about 200 prosecutions were brought against subpostmasters.

Despite being in charge, he said he was "unaware" it was the Post Office that had brought criminal proceedings against individuals - and that during his time in the top job, it did not feel like the Post Office "had a crisis on its hands".

An email sent by Mr Cook in October 2009 to a Royal Mail Group press officer said: "For some strange reason there is a steadily building nervousness about the accuracy of the Horizon system and the press are on it now as well.

"It is... strange in that the system has been stable and reliable for many years now and there is absolutely no logical reason why these fears should now develop.

"My instincts tell me that, in a recession, subbies (subpostmasters) with their hand in the till choose to blame the technology when they are found to be short of cash."

Pressed over his remarks at the inquiry, Mr Cook said: "Well that's an expression I will regret for the rest of my life. It was an inappropriate thing to put in an email - not in line with my view of subpostmasters."

Hundreds of people were wrongly convicted of stealing after bugs and errors in the Horizon accounting system made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.

Victims faced prison and financial ruin, others were ostracised by their communities, while some took their own lives.

Fresh attention was brought to the scandal after ITV broadcast the drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, prompting government action.

Earlier, as he began giving evidence, Mr Cook said he wanted to "put on record most strongly my personal apology and sympathies with all subpostmasters their families and those affected by this".

He also told the inquiry: "I was unaware that the Post Office were the prosecuting authority.

"I knew there were court cases but didn't realise that the Post Office in about two-thirds of the cases had initiated the prosecution as opposed to the DPP (director of public prosecutions) or the police."

During his time as non-executive director of the Post Office, Mr Cook said it was his "regret" he failed to properly understand minutes of a meeting which said the organisation had a "principle of undertaking prosecutions".

He said: "It never occurred to me reading that that the Post Office was the sole arbiter of whether or not that criminal prosecution would proceed."

Mr Cook added: "I had never come across a situation before that a trading entity could initiate criminal prosecutions themselves.

"I'm not blaming others for this, it's my misunderstanding but I've just not encountered that type of situation."

He acknowledged he should have known the Post Office was making prosecutorial decisions.

Counsel to the inquiry Sam Stevens asked: "Your evidence is still that in no point in the years that you were the managing director, (nobody) in the security or investigations team raised the fact that they made decisions to prosecute?"

Responding, Mr Cook said: "That is my position, definitely."

He went on: "I never asked that question - well I did obviously when we got to the Computer Weekly article (in 2009) which we'll get to but prior to that point I had gone through not picking up that.

"I'm not blaming them for not spelling it out enough, to be frank I'm blaming me for not picking up on it."

During his time at the Post Office, Mr Cook said in his witness statement it was not apparent there was a problem with the Horizon system, pointing out that financial audits "did not identify a systemic issue".

He added: "It is a matter of deep regret to me that I did not recognise that the early issues raised in 2009 were an indication of a systemic issue before I left POL (Post Office Limited) in February 2010.

"In addition, I have since learned that the annual rate of prosecutions brought by POL in the seven years prior to my appointment (ie since 1999) had remained steady during that time, and continued to remain steady during my time in office and thereafter. It did not feel, at the time, that POL had a crisis on its hands."

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMifmh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L3Bvc3Qtb2ZmaWNlLXNjYW5kYWwtZXgtYm9zcy1tYWtlcy1wZXJzb25hbC1hcG9sb2d5LW1vc3Qtc3Ryb25nbHktdG8td3JvbmdlZC1zdWJwb3N0bWFzdGVycy0xMzExMzM4OdIBggFodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9hbXAvcG9zdC1vZmZpY2Utc2NhbmRhbC1leC1ib3NzLW1ha2VzLXBlcnNvbmFsLWFwb2xvZ3ktbW9zdC1zdHJvbmdseS10by13cm9uZ2VkLXN1YnBvc3RtYXN0ZXJzLTEzMTEzMzg5?oc=5

2024-04-12 11:15:00Z
CBMifmh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L3Bvc3Qtb2ZmaWNlLXNjYW5kYWwtZXgtYm9zcy1tYWtlcy1wZXJzb25hbC1hcG9sb2d5LW1vc3Qtc3Ryb25nbHktdG8td3JvbmdlZC1zdWJwb3N0bWFzdGVycy0xMzExMzM4OdIBggFodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9hbXAvcG9zdC1vZmZpY2Utc2NhbmRhbC1leC1ib3NzLW1ha2VzLXBlcnNvbmFsLWFwb2xvZ3ktbW9zdC1zdHJvbmdseS10by13cm9uZ2VkLXN1YnBvc3RtYXN0ZXJzLTEzMTEzMzg5

Keir Starmer: Labour commitment to nuclear weapons unshakeable - BBC

Sir Keir Starmer and Labour's shadow defence secretary John Healey meet workers at BAE Systems in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria

By Kate Whannel & Chas Geiger

Political reporter, BBC News

Sir Keir Starmer has said his commitment to the UK's nuclear weapons is "unshakeable" and "absolute".

Writing in the Daily Mail, he described the creation of the NHS and an independent British nuclear programme as "towering achievements" of the Labour government elected in 1945.

The Labour leader has also said he wants to raise defence spending to 2.5% of GDP "as soon as resources allow".

The government plans to spend 2.3% of GDP on defence this year.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has also said he wants the figure to rise to 2.5% "as soon as economic conditions allow," but neither party has set out a timeline for this to happen.

Earlier this year, two ministers - Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Tom Tugendhat - publicly urged the government to invest in defence at a "much greater pace".

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said Labour could not "be trusted with our nation's defences" because Sir Keir had "tried twice to put Jeremy Corbyn in charge of the nation's armed forces".

"The same man who wanted to scrap our nuclear deterrent, dismantle Nato and questioned the integrity of British intelligence community," he added.

Neither Sir Keir's pledge on the UK's Trident nuclear weapons nor his aspiration to increase defence spending were "credible", Mr Shapps claimed, as 11 members of the Labour leader's team - including deputy leader Angela Rayner and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy - had voted against renewing Trident in 2016.

He accused Sir Keir of "saying whatever he needs to, to get your vote".

Since the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Labour has often been divided on nuclear weapons - and the related issue of multilateral versus unilateral disarmament - not least during the leadership of Sir Keir's predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn.

Clement Attlee, who was prime minister from 1945-1951, is now widely revered in the party as the father of the NHS and much of the rest of the welfare state.

But he was also the father of Britain's nuclear bomb, making sure the UK got its own "nuclear deterrent", committing many millions to its development at a time when the country was technically bankrupt.

His foreign secretary, Ernest Bevin, was a key figure in the establishment of the Nato alliance.

In his Mail article, Sir Keir emphasised these points, calling them a "proud part of my party's heritage".

In an interview with In an interview with the i newspaper, he said he would conduct a strategic review of defence and security "to be clear what the priorities are".

In a statement ahead of a visit to Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria - where nuclear submarines are made - Sir Keir said Labour's commitment to the UK having nuclear weapons was "total".

The UK's four nuclear-armed Vanguard submarines that carry Trident missiles are housed in the west of Scotland.

"In the face of rising global threats and growing Russian aggression, the UK's nuclear deterrent is the bedrock of Labour's plan to keep Britain safe," said Sir Keir.

File photo dated 29/09/17 of the Vanguard-class nuclear deterrent submarine HMS Vengeance at HM Naval Base Clyde, Faslane.

"It will ensure vital protection for the UK and our Nato allies in the years ahead, as well as supporting thousands of high-paying jobs across the UK."

He also described his party as one that had "changed" - referring to Mr Corbyn, a long-time opponent of the UK's Trident submarine-based missile system and vice-president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).

Speaking to the i, Sir Keir said nuclear weapons were "expensive but it's absolutely vital and needed".

Annual running costs are estimated at 6% of the defence budget - about £3bn for 2023-24. The new Dreadnought boats being built at Barrow-in-Furness to replace the current submarines in the early 2030s carry an estimated cost of £31bn.

Asked about defence spending, Sir Keir told the paper: "Obviously we want to get to 2.5% as soon as resources allow that to happen.

"That was the position when Labour left government and we absolutely stand by our commitment to Nato."

Left-wing group, Momentum, which backed Mr Corbyn, condemned Sir Keir's priorities.

'Meaningless'

Co-chair Hilary Schan said: "For months we have been told by the Labour leadership that there's simply no money left: no money to scrap the two-child benefit cap, no money to introduce universal free school meals, no money to invest in our public services or the green transition.

"Yet at a stroke Keir Starmer has today made a massive, permanent spending commitment. This shows that Labour can and should make different economic choices."

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey attacked both Labour and the Conservatives for offering "only meaningless talk about vague aspirations for some unspecified time in the future".

"With Putin waging war in Europe and Trump threatening the future of NATO", his party would reverse "the Conservatives' irresponsible cuts to Army troop numbers", he said.

SNP defence spokesperson Martin Docherty-Hughes MP - whose party does not support Trident - said Westminster had "already wasted billions of pounds of taxpayers' money on nuclear weapons".

He added it was "grotesque that Sir Keir Starmer is prepared to throw billions more down the drain when his party claim there is no money to improve our NHS, help families with the cost of living or to properly invest in our green energy future".

All members of military alliance Nato have pledged to spend at least 2% of the value of their economies - measured by GDP - on defence per year by 2024.

According to the Nato secretary general's annual report in March, Poland was the top spender, allocating 3.9% of its GDP (the total value of goods and services produced), which was more than twice the amount it had spent in 2022.

The US was in second place at 3.2%.

Sabtu, 13 April 2024

Related Topics

Jumat, 12 April 2024

More on Post Office Scandal

Related Topics:

'Meaningless'

Related Topics

Related Topics