Rishi Sunak wants to challenge Sir Keir Starmer on security – but defence is rarely a factor that determines British elections | Politics news

Whether you heard the wet outdoor version of Rishi Sunak’s campaign launch or the dry indoor version, his message on national security was the same.

“The world is more dangerous than at any time since the end of the Cold War,” he told the small, banner-waving crowd bussed to the Excel center, and only “we Conservatives have this plan and are prepared to take these bold steps to secure a better future for our country and our children.”

The Conservative Führer likes to remind voters that his Work Opponent, Sir Keir Starmerserved under his predecessor and supported him, Jeremy Corbynwho is against Britain’s membership in NATO and the country’s nuclear deterrent.

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Labour has chosen the single word “change” as its central campaign slogan.

Sir Keir’s Labour Party has certainly changed a lot in its views on defence since the days of Mr Corbyn.

Mr Corbyn was kicked out of the Labour Party over anti-Semitism issues and is challenge his old party as an independent in the constituency of Islington North, which he has represented for 40 years.

Meanwhile, warning signals are flashing red over the conflicts in Ukraine And Israel and Gazaamid the identification of a new axis of anti-Western aggression, called CRINK, after the initials of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

Foreign policy is rarely a deciding factor in British general elections.

All politicians agree with opinion polls that show that voters in general are much more interested in domestic issues such as public health, the economy, and law and order.

Yet Conservative campaigners clearly see this as one of their main lines of attack against Labour in this election.

Labour and Tories have similar plans to defend

Over the next six weeks, we will learn how important defense is to voters and whether the wary public really sees a major dividing line between the two major parties on this issue.

If Sir Keir has his way, they will not see much difference, even though he has not made defence a central issue in an effort not to incite dissent within his own ranks.

On the morning before the election, he cancelled his speech at the London Defence Conference, perhaps because he did not want to commit to spending plans. His shadow defence secretary, John Healey, and his shadow foreign secretary David Lammy went along instead.

Sir Keir has repeatedly stated that national security is the first duty of any government.

The Labour Party’s “Change” posters are lined with parts of the Union Jack.

Before the election campaign, Sir Keir did his best to show that this is an area where there will be “no change” rather than “change” when he replaces Mr Sunak as Prime Minister in July.

He visited the BAE Systems Submarine worker at Barrow-in-Furness, and declared that his commitment to nuclear weapons was “absolute” and “unwavering”. In extreme circumstances, he promised to press the nuclear button.

Sir Keir and his team visited Ukraine to show their support, including backing the current government’s plan to provide £3 billion a year to provide the largest amount of funding in Europe.

The Conservatives have promised Achieve spending of 2.5% of GDP by 2030 and claim that Labour has no plans in this regard.

But this week Mr Healey promised to achieve the goal “as quickly as possible”.

However, the audience at the defence conference was unimpressed when he announced that if the Labour Party won on July 4, it would launch another one-year defence review.

If Labour is as close to the current government’s security policy as it claims, this is arguably a waste of time.

In fact, neither party has adequately explained how it will finance these additional spending measures, which are based on the unfeasibly large cuts in other public spending planned for the next legislative session, to which both parties have nominally agreed.

While this tangled controversy may galvanise the Conservatives’ core electorate, it is unlikely to interest the wider electorate.

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Voters are unlikely to want cuts in defense

Many defence experts believe that 2.5 per cent is merely the lower limit of what should be spent to protect against the increasing threats identified by the Prime Minister.

During the Cold War, British defence spending was significantly higher, reaching 2.5 percent at the end of the New Labour government.

This week Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden Fears were further compounded by the government’s raising of the threat of cyberattacks and urging citizens to stockpile essential goods in case of emergency.

However, it will be difficult to persuade voters to accept cuts in health, education and social services in favour of defence, and in this election neither party is succeeding in accepting this.

How Starmer’s Gaza stance could cost Labour votes

Concerns about security have risen in opinion polls, but it is not a priority for voters. Traditionally, this is the Conservatives’ most trusted issue, but polls this year show Labour on a par with, or even ahead of, the Tories.

On the other hand, Labour’s hard line on defence policy could also cost it some votes.

Since the Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7, Mr Sunak and Sir Keir have had little disagreement, with both insisting that Israel has the right to defend itself, including attacking Gaza.

There are already signs in some parts of the country that this could cost Labour votes, particularly where there are large Muslim populations or large numbers of so-called “urban progressives”.

In May’s local elections, defections from Labour to the Greens gave the party a record result. It is estimated that a similar vote could cost Labour up to a dozen seats in the general election.

This would dash Sir Keir’s hopes of a large majority and is another reason why Labour will try to avoid controversial foreign policy issues in this election campaign.

Of course, there is the possibility that a dramatic and violent development of hostilities at home or abroad could boost the election campaign.

Otherwise, responsibility for national security and foreign policy will likely rest with the eventual winner rather than with the voters.

Within five days of the general election, one of them must represent Britain at the NATO summit in Washington DC from 9 to 11 July.

It is the organization’s 75th anniversary and is considered the most important in its history. With a war in Ukraine raging across Europe, the organization faces major challenges.

The following week, Prime Minister Starmer or Sunak will receive the national heads of state and government of the new European Political Community – an organisation that calls on Britain to make a major contribution to the defence of the continent after Brexit.