Starmer calls for unity and describes “unshakeable” support for NATO

Fighting continues in Ukraine. An estimated 137 Ukrainians were killed yesterday and missile strikes and explosions were heard in Kyiv overnight. In a video address this morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will remain in the capital despite saying he is being targeted by Russian special forces. “The enemy marked me as target number one, my family as target number two. They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state. We have information that enemy sabotage groups have entered Kyiv,” he warned. British military experts have said Ukrainian forces are providing “fierce resistance” and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News this morning that “Russia has not taken any of its major objectives, in fact it is behind its hoped-for timetable”.

In an exclusive interview with LabourList, Labour member of the Senedd and second generation Ukrainian Mick Antoniw compared Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler and argued that those on the left who blame NATO expansionism for Russia’s actions “discredit” anti-war movement. Antoniw recently led a delegation of Labour, Plaid Cymru and trade union representatives to Kyiv to hear from workers, LGBTQ+ people, ethnic minorities and human rights defenders. Reprimanded earlier this month by Conservatives for going, the Welsh politician defended the move, calling the criticism “really pathetic” and “an attempt to distract attention from the weakness of the sanctions and the really poor performance of Tory ministers during negotiations”. Read the full interview here.

In a televised address yesterday, Boris Johnson told viewers that western allies would agree a “massive package of economic sanctions designed in time to hobble the Russian economy”, adding that this “barbaric venture of Vladimir Putin must end in failure”. Responding with his own TV appearance, Keir Starmer declared that Russia “must be isolated”, its “finances frozen” and “its ability to function crippled” by “the hardest possible sanctions” – while warning that the UK must be braced for “economy pain” as it feels repercussions. He urged the West to stand united with Ukraine this morning and said Labour is “unshakeable in our support of NATO”, adding: “It’s very important because Putin wants to see NATO and our allies divided. Putin wants to see political parties in the UK and elsewhere divided, and we are not going to be divided.”

11 Labour MPs pulled their signatures from a Stop the War statement that criticised NATO yesterday evening after being urged to do so by the chief whip. The declaration urged a diplomatic resolution to the conflict and argued NATO should “call a halt to its eastward expansion”. Diane Abbott, John McDonnell, Richard Burgon, Ian Lavery, Beth Winter, Zarah Sultana, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Apsana Begum, Mick Whitley, Tahir Ali and Ian Mearns had all signed. LabourList understands that while many of the Labour MPs condemned the invasion of Ukraine yesterday, they pulled their support for the statement because it was thought they would have the Labour whip withdrawn if they refused to do so.

A Labour spokesperson said the MPs removing their signatures showed that “Labour is under new management”, adding: “With Keir Starmer’s leadership there will never be any confusion about whose side Labour is on – Britain, NATO, freedom and democracy – and every Labour MP now understands that.” Momentum co-chair Andrew Scattergood said the MPs’ “steadfast commitment to the Ukrainian people and against Russia’s invasion is beyond question” and it “beggars belief” that the leadership “focuses on a week-old statement in an attempt to wage factional warfare against them while a real war wages on against the Ukrainian people”.