Ahead of the Global Days of Action on Military Spending, running from April 10 to May 9, the Global Campaign on Military Spending – UK has issued the following statement:
The world stands on a precipice. Armed conflicts are raging around the world, with more active wars than at any time since 1945 (Global Peace Index, 2024).1 From the genocide in Gaza to major wars in Sudan, Ukraine and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and now the United States (U.S.) and Israel attacking Iran, plunging the Middle East into further crisis. The UK has supported Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the U.S. attacks on Iran by providing logistical support. These conflicts cause huge levels of death and suffering to civilians, catastrophic damage to the environment, and waste precious natural resources and money. International law is at risk in a way which hasn’t been seen for generations.
None of this is happening by accident. It is a result of the increasing militarisation of society, rising nationalism and the resurgence of the military as an imperialist tool. Governments are spending trillions on the machinery of war. In almost every nation, including the UK, there are insatiable appetites among the political elites for ever-more military spending, even as poverty increases, public services crumble and climate breakdown worsens.
In the UK, annual military spending has increased by tens of billions of pounds in recent years. This is all while 4.3 million children (one in four) are currently living in poverty. Now, the government has announced plans to raise military spending to 3% of GDP, an increase worth tens of billions more. This money has to come from somewhere. Much is already coming from slashing the overseas aid budget, which funds vaccines, food aid and disaster relief for the world’s poorest people. The rest risks being taken from UK public services.
The argument that more military spending means more security does not hold up. Rather than providing security, militarisation fuels authoritarianism, provokes adversaries, risks escalating conflict and diverts resources from the public services and infrastructure that people actually need to be safe. Real security comes from healthy communities, a stable climate, functioning public services and genuine international cooperation. These are being defunded to pay for weapons we already have in abundance. The government’s own National Security Risk Assessment concluded that climate breakdown poses the most serious long-term threat to UK security.2
Britain, already one of the world’s most heavily armed nations, is the sixth biggest military spender in the world (SIPRI, 2024).3 Its navy and air force, in particular, have very powerful military capabilities and the ability to ‘project force’ globally. Its nuclear-armed submarines, which constantly patrol international waters, are armed with enough firepower to cause a nuclear winter. Along with European military allies, our armed forces already have conventional force superiority over, for example, Russia in most major weapons systems. The UK is not under-resourced militarily and also continues to sell weapons to governments that abuse human rights, fuelling conflicts abroad even as it speaks of upholding international law.
The public does not support the current trajectory of the Labour Government. A recent poll by YouGov found that only 34% support boosting borrowing to fund increases in military spending, while 65% of people oppose tax hikes and 65% oppose cuts to public services to fund such increases.4
In response to this situation and the dangers posed not only to our nation but globally, we call for the following:
- The UK government to cancel its proposals to increase spending on the military, specifically the plans to spend 3.5% of GDP during the next parliament.
- The UK to focus on initiatives aimed at diplomacy, conflict reduction, and disarmament.
- The highest priority to be given by the government to funding socially productive projects, including the alleviation of poverty and inequality at home and around the world, and stronger efforts to mitigate the climate and nature crises.
- The UK to adhere to international law and the UN’s international conflict resolution framework, as well as compliance with disarmament treaties and support for the convening of a long-overdue Fourth Special Session on Disarmament, as agreed upon in the UN’s Pact for the Future.
- Civil society in the UK is to join forces and challenge the rising trend of military spending, to bolster the global movement for peace and justice, and to confront decision-makers who attempt to justify relentless militarism under the guise of security.
- To use the Global Days of Action on Military Spending (April 10 – May 9) to organise to oppose the UK government’s plans and mobilise organisations, campaigners and members of the general public to take action.
- https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GPI-2024-web.pdf ↩︎
- https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/696e0eae719d837d69afc7de/National_security_assessment_-_global_biodiversity_loss__ecosystem_collapse_and_national_security.pdf ↩︎
- https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex ↩︎
- https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/54010-are-britons-willing-to-rebuild-uk-national-power ↩︎
