BRITAIN and Germany’s highest ranking military chiefs have just made an unprecedented joint appeal to the workers of Europe to accept the ‘moral case’ for rearmament and to prepare ‘for the threat of war with Russia.’
Air Chief Marshall Sir Richard Knighton, the UK Chief of the Defence Staff, and General Carsten Breuer, the German Chief of Defence, said that Russia’s military stance had ‘shifted decisively westward’ and a ‘stepchange’ is needed in Europe’s defence and security.
In a joint article published in the Guardian and the German newspaper Die Welt the soldiers said that they ‘had a duty to explain what is at stake so that the public could understand why Britain and Germany have committed to the biggest sustained increases in defence spending since the end of the Cold War.’
They continued: ‘There is a moral dimension to this endeavour. Rearmament is not warmongering it is the responsible action of nations determined to protect their people and preserve peace’.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said at the weekend that there was an urgent need for a closer UK defence relationship with Europe, covering procurement and manufacturing, so that Britain would be at the centre of a stronger European defence setup.
He added: ‘We are not the Britain of the Brexit years.’ In fact, the UK is building up to six munitions factories which are aimed at generating what the Ministry of Defence describes as ‘an always on’ capability to sustain munitions stockpiles.
At the just-concluded Munich Conference, the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pointed ‘to the threat that Russia poses’ adding: ‘We have to understand that in the era of the big powers our freedom is no longer a given. It is at stake. We will need to show firmness and determination to assert this freedom.’
He also disclosed that he had held initial talks with the French president Emmanuel Macron, over the prospect of Germany joining France’s nuclear umbrella, underlining his call for Europe to develop a stronger self-standing security strategy.’
However, the issue of the day for Europe is that it has no future as part of a US-EU anti Russia alliance.
All over Europe the working class is on the march.
The time has come to establish sections of the Inter- national Committee of the Fourth International to lead the European socialist revolution and to put an end to European capitalism, and also to create the conditions for the Russian workers to overthrow the Stalinist bureaucracy and re-establish rule through workers’ and farmers’ soviets.
However, the United States and Canada will not be able to stand aloof from the massive march of history that is on hand.
In fact, the US and Canadian workers have already begun to make their mark on history and may well establish a Socialist United States of North America.
Capitalism is reaching the end of its historical road and must be replaced by a World Socialist Republic that will use the enormous resources of the planet for a much better future for all of humankind.
This means that the UK trade unions must rise to the historic occasion!
The TUC must be made to call a Special Congress to discuss and plan the organisation of the British general strike to bring down the rotten reformist government of Starmer and replace it with a Workers’ Government.
This will nationalise the banks and the major industries and bring in a socialist nationalised and planned economy which will plan production so that the needs of the working class and the youth are fully satisfied. The maxim of such a government will be from each according to their ability, to each according to their need.
This British revolution is part of the world socialist revolution that will see humanity take a great leap forward and consign capitalism to the dustbin of history.
Forward to the victory of the World Socialist Revolution and an end to all imperialist wars!
