Firing British Stormshadow missiles into Russian Federation territory would be absolutely SUICIDAL!

by Phil Hall

I know that nearly all of us on the left have given up on Keir Starmer and remember his personal betrayal of Jeremy Corbyn with a deep bitterness. But we have to recognise that he is in charge of the UK government and encourage him to make the right decisions. In my view, when it comes to foreign policy, Starmer is currently in a state of ignorance and delusion. Can he learn? Does he have the capacity to change course and act more rationally in the best interests of the UK and the world? What are the real constraints on Keir Starmer, were he and his government to conduct a more independent foreign policy?

There is no question that Keir Starmer has a Rolls Royce legal mind. Starmer became the Chief Crown Prosecutor rising up from humble beginnings. He rose to prominence in an area, the law, which is the soul and essence of governance. Those of us on the left who denigrate and despise Starmer’s choices and call him silly names, may not be, intrinsically, as smart as him. Do not be fooled by those who characterise him as a dolt. Starmer is not a dolt, he is a realist. At least he is when it comes to the law.

The moral weight and moral compromises necessary to being Crown Prosecutor must have been almost intolerably heavy. To perform well in such a job requires a moral bravery and cold bloodedness that most of us do not have and would not want. To be a realist, in essence means to be a Utilitarian. It means that you agree with the necessity of making serious moral compromises. Realists can be revolutionaries and creators of nations and new improved systems, but they can also be the perpetuators of systems, and so they become perpetrators of what they consider to be ‘lesser evils’.

What does it mean to be a realist leading the government of a secondary capitalist power in close alliance with the current hegemonic capitalist power, the USA? The USA can only exist in its current form by continuing to strategically and economically dominate much of the world. Starmer’s realism, at present, involves keeping a system of exploitation going; a capitalism of unequal extraction, exploitation and wealth distribution that is now flailing around, lashing out, and threatening most of the globe with war and destruction. The USA threatens China, Iran, countries in Africa, countries in the Middle East, Russia, and countries in Latin America like Venezuela.

Keir Starmer is making what he sees to be Utilitarian / Benthamite choices. His strategies are expedient, but are they morally defensible as a matter of principle? A talented and intelligent realist in the 18th century might have tried to make to make slavery more humane. A talented realist in 1940s Germany, would have devoted his time to improving the efficiency of the state security apparatus and running the prisons properly.

So far, Keir Starmer’s realism has involved aiding and abetting mass murder in Gaza. It has meant joining in with a bellicose game of high stakes nuclear poker with Russia while playing a very poor hand. Starmer’s insistence that Ukraine be allowed to fire British Stormshadow missiles into Russian Federation territory seems absolutely suicidal. To be a realist in the way that Keir Starmer is being a realist means supporting policies and actions that most thinking, moral people would find unconscionable and intolerable.

We can only hope that Keir Starmer’s warmongering is just a performance and that things are moving in a better direction under the surface. Right now, Keir Starmer and his cabinet and members of the Labour Party, despite their overt shows of loyalty to the US ‘world order’, must be thinking about how to actually resolve the crisis in the Middle East and in Eastern Europe. They know that there is no possibility of a real victory for US interests either in the Middle East or in Ukraine. There is only the inevitability of a messy, painful, negotiated settlement – either that or global thermonuclear war. The realist chooses the former.

The problem has been posed. The question has been asked. The puzzle is on the table. The cryptic crossword lies unfolded on the table of Keir Starmer’s mahogany desk – next to his mug of coffee. This realist, Keir Starmer, with a Rolls Royce legal mind must now learn fast and try to find a way out of this horrifying impasse for the UK and the world.

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