17/02/2025 16:36
The Guardian
Conservative leader of the opposition speaks at right-wing conference in London. This live blog is closedKeir Starmer’s announcement via the Telegraph that he was prepared to put British peacekeeping troops on the ground in Ukraine was also described by Conservative MP and shadow cabinet spokesperson Alicia Kearns as not the right priority. She told viewers of Sky News “his priority should be today talking about defence spending.”It was put to her that by Sky’s Wilfred Frost that “you’re trying to criticise the state of defence spending six months into their government, when this is a long-term issue, after 14 years [of Conservatives being] in power.”I’ve always been very clear. I was critical of my own government. But what I’m saying is, since July, a decision was made to side with the Treasury, to not give the increase in defence spending. We needed to continue to replenish stocks. Replenishing stocks should be the priority so that we are ready if we do need to provide peacekeeping services, if we do need to provide more support to Ukraine.My reaction is the prime minister is doing the right thing. But, of course, doing the right thing comes at a price. If the prime minister is serious about wanting to deploy British troops, put boots on the ground in Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force, he’s got to realise that’s going to come at a considerable cost.Frankly, we haven’t got the numbers and we haven’t got the equipment to put a large force onto the ground for an extended period of time at the present moment. We’ve got to have the right number of people with the right equipment and the right training, and start to fund that now.I’m quite cautious, because we’re not a place in which we understand the terms or the conditions or the numbers or the way in which we’ve been deploying our people, and we should always make sure that we are making decisions based on as much information as possible.The reality is that Ukraine is still fighting for its freedom. Russia has taken around 600 square miles of territory over the last few months. We’re not in a place as yet where I think we can be making those commitments … things are going to change over the next few hours, let alone the next few days, weeks and months.We will always give Ukraine the support they need. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with them. We will fight for them to determine the terms of this peace.And also, it’s important to note, this can’t just be that we’ve managed to stop the shooting and murder, and therefore we’ve got peace. We need a peace deal that will end the threat to our European neighbours and to us, one that will make us safer from a state that is currently behaving like a terrorist. Continue reading...
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