Vast majority of Labour members back defence spending boost and NATO membership – poll

Almost three-quarters of Labour members support an increase in defence spending to deal with international threats, according to exclusive polling for LabourList.

The poll, conducted by Survation, found that 74 percent of members backed a boost to military spending, with almost four in ten (39 percent) wanting to the government to reach its ambition of spending 3.5 percent of GDP on defence sooner than its 2035 target.

Over a third of members (35 percent) backed the government’s current defence spending goals, while only 13 percent said military spending should be held at the current level and ten percent called for a cut in spending on defence.

Almost nine in ten members back NATO membership

The poll also found that an overwhelming majority (88 percent) of Labour members support Britain’s continued membership of NATO, and back the UK taking a leading role in the 32-member alliance.

Only seven percent of Labour members said they would like to see Britain withdraw from the organisation, with five percent unsure.

Support for Britain’s continued membership was highest among those who backed Keir Starmer for party leader in 2020 (95 percent), while almost a third (32 percent) of those who supported Rebecca Long Bailey said they want to see the UK withdraw – although a majority (55 percent) still backed membership.

Among Lisa Nandy supporters, 91 percent backed Britain’s leading role in NATO.

Four in five Labour members (80 percent) also said they would support British forces taking an active role in an intervention if another NATO member state were invaded, compared to only nine percent who were opposed.

It comes as the world marks the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has seen geopolitical norms and alliances tested to breaking point – with new members joining NATO and the United States taking a more reluctant stance on supporting Ukraine under the Trump administration.

Paul Richards, co-founder of Labour Friends of NATO, said: “These findings reinforce the idea that Labour is the party of NATO in an increasingly dangerous world. Strong defence and rapid rearmament must now be Labour’s core mission.”

Three-quarters back UK troop deployment for hypothetical Ukraine peace deal

With the United States attempting to mediate an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia, three-quarters (76 percent) of Labour members polled said the UK should deploy troops in a peacekeeping role in Ukraine as part of a hypothetical peace deal.

Only 16 percent were opposed to such a possibility, including half (50 percent) of Rebecca Long Bailey supporters from the 2020 leadership contest – although 42 percent said they would back such a plan.

READ MORE: Two-thirds of Labour members say government has made too many policy U-turns, poll reveals

Last month, Donald Trump spooked European nations after his continued threats to the sovereignty of Greenland, insisting that the Danish territory should be annexed by the United States.

Although the US President has, for now, ruled out any military action to take the territory by force, almost one in five Labour members (19 percent) said they would want to see Britain expel all US military forces from UK bases were American forces to invade Greenland.

Almost ten percent said Britain should take military action to defend the Danish territory, while 12 percent advocated for selling off US debt held by the UK in such a circumstance.

However, a plurality of members (37 percent) said the single best response by Britain would be to negotiate peace whilst opposing US action publicly.

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