ON August 31 the Labour Party called on the Coalition to end the speculation that Britain is considering sharing its aircraft carrier capability with France by creating a cooperation pact.
The Ministry of Defence described the report as ‘speculation.’
Yesterday, barely two months later, the UK and French ruling classes signed two military treaties that hold each country together for the next 50 years.
This has been done without any parliamentary debate, or vote, and at great speed.
In fact, what we have here is the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie in action, where the needs of the capitalist class count for everything and parliament, and the opinion of the people, and democracy count for nothing.
What is clear is that the world capitalist crisis has made it impossible for the British and French ruling classes, on their own, to maintain the kind of armed forces necessary to defend their interests on a world scale, while they cannot rely on the US or NATO to do so for them.
They are therefore coming together, attempting to bury their very real imperialist rivalries, for their common good.
This done, a series of Anglo-French military adventures is on the agenda in a situation where both countries are desperate to acquire and hold onto oil and gas resources.
Yesterday Cameron said, standing next to Sarkozy, that the 50-year-long treaties would see the formation of a joint army expeditionary force, while a centre is being set up in the UK to develop nuclear testing technology, with another in France to carry it out.
The ‘joint expeditionary force’ of 10,000 troops will be deployed by a joint political decision and will come under a single commander to be chosen from either country at the time of the operation.
The UK and France have also agreed to keep at least one aircraft carrier at sea between them at any one time.
‘We’re looking at a combined joint expeditionary force, we’re looking at greater inter-operability, coherence in military doctrine,’ said UK Defence Minister Fox. ‘We’re looking to see where in our defence industries we can have better cooperation so that we are getting better value for money for our research and development, what we can do in terms of support and joint training.’
The reality is that this is the formation of a new imperialist alliance to carry out imperialist wars.
This was made perfectly clear when a journalist asked whether the collaboration would extend to France aiding the UK in the event of a new war in the Falkands, and whether UK troops would be involved in French initiated actions in West Africa.
Sarkozy answered the question by refusing to deny that this scenario was in prospect. He said that the UK and France were allies and each knew what the other’s interests were before they signed the treaty.
In fact, Britain is currently getting ready to exploit the huge oil deposits around the islands and has already told Argentina to keep away. Many in South America reckoned that the UK defence cuts would mean Britain not being able to repeat the 1982 war. Yesterday, treaties was the UK’s response.
There will be secret clauses in this treaty that will only be made public after a revolution. They will include UK and French joint action to defend their interests in the Falklands and West Africa.
The UK trade unions must condemn these new imperialist war treaties, and war plans, and call for the scrapping of the Trident programme and the handing back of the Falklands to Argentina.
