Labour Members Oppose AUKUS Sub Deal, Claim It Will ‘Undermine World Peace’

BRIGHTON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 25: Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer applauds as a mark
Leon Neal/Getty Images
Victoria Friedman

Labour Party members have voted to condemn the new anglosphere Pacific defence alliance, claiming it “undermines world peace”.

Party members voted on Monday 70 per cent to 30 per cent in favour of the motion: “Conference believes that in contradiction to Tory PM Johnson’s statement that ‘this will promote stability in the Indo-Pacific region’, in fact, this is a dangerous move which will undermine world peace.”

“Conference resolves to oppose the AUKUS agreement and make appropriate moves to de-escalate the situation,” the motion added, according to the Daily Mail.

Earlier this month, the leaders of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America announced a joint defence and security pact that while did not name China specifically, said would “protect and defend our shared interests in the Indo-Pacific”. Britain’s so-called tilt to the Pacific has been widely interpreted as having China in its sights, and this alliance is part of that.

AUKUS aims to enhance interoperability and technology-sharing on issues of next-generation warfare involving quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, long-range strike capabilities, and cyber defence. Its first endeavour will be the development of nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy.

The left-wing party members voted to condemn the new alliance just hours after Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey said that under a Keir Starmer-led Labour government, “the country will get the leadership to forge a new and powerful role for Britain in the world.

‘Britain will be democracy’s most reliable ally. Britain will no longer be half-hearted about essential alliances and treaties, in the UN, NATO, Five Eyes, International Court of Justice.

“Britain will forge a flexible geometry of new alliances where needed for our national security and international stability.”

Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, the socialist MP from Islington who was suspended from the party over his reaction to a report on antisemitism in Labour under his leadership, claimed that the pact was “starting a new nuclear arms race and Cold War” — not dissimilar to the remarks of the communist state North Korea, which claimed AUKUS could start a “nuclear arms race”.

The AUKUS deal is not the only military agreement being pursued by Britain in the region, either. On Tuesday the UK and Japan announced they would be entering into military cooperation talks in October, again a move clearly aimed at China.

The submarine pact vote exposes further division within the party — after Labour collapsed into infighting as to whether it was “transphobic” to say that only women can have cervixes — not only between leadership and those voting at the conference but with the GMB union, which criticised opposition to AUKUS, saying the motion “undermines industries where jobs are under threat”.

GMB Regional Secretary Hazel Nolan said the Labour conference had “proven itself to be out of touch and on the wrong side of job creation once again”.

“This deal could be a real opportunity for UK manufacturing. To dismiss it out of hand is nonsense. If it ever wants to be in power, Labour needs to get back to its roots and speak up for jobs and the concerns of working people,” Ms Nolan added.

Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, claimed she was just getting back to her roots when she called Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other senior Tories “scum” during a conference evening reception, alleging it is a “phrase you use often in Northern working-class town”.

However, a YouGov poll found that 70 per cent of Northerners and 71 per cent of the working class did not think it was acceptable for senior politicians to call their political opponents “scum”, in line with 70 per cent of the general population who felt the same.

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