UK

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Conservative party’s deputy chairman Lee Anderson has rocked Rishi Sunak’s authority by backing rebel MPs defying the prime minister over his Rwanda bill.The senior Tory figure has effectively dared Mr Sunak to sack him by announcing that he is supporting the right-wingers who are pushing for last-minute changes to the deportation legislation.Almost 60 Conservative MPs have now backed amendments by ex-immigration minister Robert Jenrick aimed at toughening the bill ahead of a showdown vote on Wednesday.Mr Anderson announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he was backing the hardline amendments tabled by Bill Cash and Mr Jenrick.“I have signed the Cash & Jenrick amendments. I will vote for them,” the controversial MP for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire tweeted.Asked by if the Tory whips have told him he can still remain in his role as deputy chairman, Mr Anderson told reporters: “No, I haven’t been told that.”Although he did not immediately resign from the job, Mr Anderson’s allies believe he is more likely to quit before he is fired by Mr Sunak over the act of rebellion.Earlier on Monday, grilled on whether he would sack Mr Anderson if he rebelled, Mr Sunak said only: “I’m frustrated about the situation … I’m confident that the bill we’ve got is the toughest that anyone’s ever seen.”Hardline MPs are vowing to vote against the government if Mr Sunak refuses to back down by Wednesday’s vote – with one telling The Independent that the chances of a seismic defeat that could end his time at No 10 are “under-priced”.It would take just 29 Tory MPs to overturn Mr Sunak’s 56-seat parliamentary majority and defeat the government at the final Commons vote on Wednesday.As well as trying to block any role for the European court in deportation cases, Mr Jenrick and others have demanded that Mr Sunak restricts the grounds on which illegal migrants can bring claims.Lee Anderson with Sunak during visit to school in Ashfield earlier this month Hardliners in the New Conservatives and the European Research Group (ERG) met on Monday to discuss their amendments ahead of the crucial third reading showdown.One senior right-wing Tory MP involved in the discussions said there was a “growing feeling it is better not to have any bill than a bill that doesn’t work”.And John Hayes, chair of the Common Sense Group, told The Independent: “There is significant support for the amendments – it’s more than I think the government were anticipating. I’m hopeful the government will listen.”In an apparent bid to keep right-wingers happy, the Tory leader talked up his willingness to use the bill to ignore any injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights on Rwanda deportations flights.Mr Sunak told GB News: “If you’re asking me … are there circumstances in which I’m prepared to ignore those rule 39s [section 39 injunctions]? Then yes, of course there are.”No 10 refused to comment on any conversations with Mr Anderson or cabinet minister Kemi Badenoch, who is said to have warned the PM’s team that the bill does not go far enough. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBritain should prepare for further wars involving China, Russia, Iran and North Korea in the next five years, Grant Shapps has warned.In his first speech as defence secretary, Shapps presented a dark picture of a “pre-war world” in which old and new enemies have redrawn battle lines against Britain and the West.In the wide-ranging address, in which he called on Nato members to increase their defence spending to at least 2 per cent of their GDP, he warned that the foundations of the rules-based international order are being “shaken to the core”.The conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine were forerunners of future strife, with the “era of the peace dividend” which came with the end of the Cold War truly over.“We find ourselves at the dawn of this new era – the Berlin Wall a distant memory – and we’ve come full circle, moving from a post-war to pre-war world,” said Mr Shapps.Confrontations are very likely between a number of hostile states and the West. Russia has already “parked its tanks” in Ukraine; North Korea is supplying missiles to Moscow; Iran is conducting hostilities through proxy forces; and China is watching to see whether the West will stand by Kyiv after the election of an anti-Beijing candidate in last weekend’s Taiwan elections, he said.The defence secretary continued: “In five years’ time we could be looking at multiple theatres including Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Ask yourself, looking at today’s conflicts across the world, is it more likely that that number grows or reduces? I suspect we all know the answer. It’s likely to grow, so 2024 must mark an inflection point.”Grant Shapps warned that Britain should prepare for further wars involving China, Russia, Iran and North Korea in the next five yearsMr Shapps foresaw further military clashes in the Red Sea region, where the US and UK are carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen. These came after the militia carried out repeated attacks against commercial shipping in one of the world’s busiest sea lanes.“Enough was enough,” he said in his speech at Lancaster House in London. The UK wanted to join the US mission in Yemen, he said, and the result is that the “Houthis have been dealt a blow. We have sent a very clear and I hope unambiguous message”.The Pentagon has estimated, however, that no more than 25 per cent of the militia’s arsenal of missiles and drones have been destroyed. The Houthis vowed to continue the attacks, and on Sunday evening fighter aircraft from the American destroyer, USS Laboon, had to shoot down an anti-ship cruise missile from Yemen aimed at the fleet.Mr Shapps maintained that Iran were the puppet masters of the Houthis. “We see that the connection [between Iran and the Houthis] is very clear. We really want Tehran, so the Iranian regime, to be reining in these proxies, who are trained by Iran, equipped by Iran, often [with] intelligence passed to them by Iran. We want to see them step in here and say ‘look, enough is enough, because we don’t want to see this escalate’,” Mr Shapps said.However, senior American and British defence and security officials dismiss claims that Tehran has direct control over the Houthis. A US security official said: “It is much more nuanced than that. The Houthis have a fair degree of autonomy in their action. I think our British [intelligence] counterparts have the same understanding.”Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has traditionally had strong links with the Houthis. But as a senior British military officer pointed out: “Qasem Suleimani [the late head of the IRGC] could go around to the Iranian-backed militias in Syria and Iraq and instruct them on what they will be doing. He didn’t do that with the Houthis because he knew that wasn’t going to work.” General Suleimani was killed by an American drone strike in 2020.Announcing the sending of a 20,000-strong UK task force to take part in the biggest Nato exercise since the end of the Cold War, Mr Shapps stressed that multiple threats being faced by the West meant defence spending must be bolstered.He said that Britain has been a leader in this, and Western allies needed to follow. “We made the critical decision to set out our aspiration to reach 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence, and as we stabilise and grow this economy, we’ll continue to strive to reach that as soon as possible. But now is the time for all allied and democratic nations across the world to do the same thing and ensure their defence spending is growing too,” he said.Mr Shapps pointed to help given by the UK to the Ukraine, along with the training of 60,000 Ukrainian troops. The government has announced a further £2.5m support package for Kyiv; ammunition, artillery and tanks have been sent to the country since the start of the Russian invasion.There is, however, rising concern that the army, in particular, has been “hollowed out”. New, modern equipment which was due to replace what has been sent to Ukraine has been slow in coming. Earlier this year a US general reportedly told then defence secretary Ben Wallace that the force would struggle to meet its Nato obligations. A senior army officer said: “What we haven’t had for the army is anything like adequate recapitalisation. There is funding for further down the line, but simply not enough for here and now.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Conservative space minister has apparently confused Mars with the Sun.Andrew Griffith, who has been in charge of the space sector since November, also mistook Jupiter for Saturn.On a walk around the Science Museum in London, Mr Griffith pointed to an exhibit showing the surfaces of different planets, the House magazine reported. “Now we have got Mars,” he said, before being told by a member of museum staff that it was actually the Sun.He went on to say “that one is Saturn”, after the display changed, before the employee said “no, no, that is Jupiter”, according to the magazine. Insisting he is learning on the job as space minister, he said: “I’m not an encyclopaedia.”Space minister Andrew Griffith mistook the Sun for Mars In an interview with the House, Mr Griffith also said he would not want to visit space, saying it is a “fascinating” but one “for other people”.He said: “Would I want to be the first minister in space? I think the whole idea of space exploration is fascinating.“It’s enormously good that people like Tim Peake and others do that, but I’m very respectful of the amount of proficiency that goes into that.”When pressed on whether he would go up into the stratosphere, he replied: “That’s for other people.”A year on from the failure of Britain’s first rocket launch, Mr Griffith insisted that the UK “is a great spacefaring nation”.He added: “We’re one of about half a dozen countries in the world that have got real credibility in space.”The former investment banker and businessman said that in order for humans to colonise Mars, “you’re going to need a lot of the British research and innovation that we’re funding right now”.Peregrine Mission One, which was the first American attempt to land on the Moon in 50 years, was carrying an instrument built by UK scientists before its journey was brought to an end by a run of technical problems.Onboard was the Peregrine Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer (PITMS), which was developed in the UK by scientists from The Open University (OU) and the Science Technology Facilities Council (STFC) RAL Space – the UK’s national space lab.The device was supposed to analyse the thin lunar atmosphere as well as find out more about how water might be moving around the moon.Discussing the UK’s ambitions for space, Mr Griffith added: ““How do we crowd in private capital alongside the substantial public capital we’re putting in? I think the classic things will be raising awareness. It’s a category that people need to understand,” he says.“I think having things like a space strategy, which the UK didn’t have until recently, gives people a long-term roadmap so they understand what we’re doing as a government.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak is staging a last-ditch bid to win over right-wing Conservatives MPs sceptical about his Rwanda deportation plans. The PM faces a mounting rebellion over the flagship immigration policy, with Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson poised to back rebel amendments to the bill.Mr Sunak is also said to have been warned by cabinet minister Kemi Badenoch that the bill does not go far enough, ahead of crucial votes this Tuesday and Wednesday. But Mr Sunak came out fighting on Monday insisting that his plan is the “toughest” bill that “anyone has ever seen” in cracking down on illegal migration.Some right-wingers have threatened to vote against the government if Mr Sonak does not back down – with one telling The Independent the chances of a seismic defeat are “under-priced”.The PM said he was still open to listening to rebel MPs. “I’m talking to all my colleagues,” the Tory leader said, as he looks to avoid a Commons defeat that would plunge his leadership into crisis.His official spokesman refused to “get into” whether Mr Sunak felt he had the votes needed for his bill to pass or not. But he said the government was still “open to considering” amendments to the Rwanda bill in the next 48 hours.Sunak is due to address MPs about the Houthi air strikesSenior Tory rebel Simon Clarke – a minister under Liz Truss – vowed to vote against the government at the crucial third reading stage on Wednesday if the government does not back down and accept amendments.Mr Clarke pounced upon dire YouGov polling which showed the Tories were facing a wipeout, to warn that the party could be “destroyed” at the general election unless it takes tougher action on ssmall boats.Mr Clarke told the BBC: “I’ve been clear with the whips, if the bill goes forward unamended I will be unable to offer it my support.”Almost 60 right-wingers have now backed amendments by ex-immigration minister Robert Jenrick, with votes on the proposed changes to come on Tuesday and Wednesday.As well as trying to block any role for the European court in deportation cases, Mr Jenrick and others have demanding Mr Sunak further tightens the grounds on which illegal migrants can bring individual claims.It would take just 29 Tory MPs to overturn Mr Sunak’s 56-seat parliamentary majority and defeat the government at the final Commons vote on Wednesday – if enough right-wingers are angry about their amendments being ignored by the government.One senior right-wing Tory MP involved in discussions said there was a “growing feeling it is better not to have any bill than a bill that doesn’t work”.They told The Independent that the chances of a seismic defeat for Mr Sunak on Wednesday were “under-priced” – claiming 29 Tories could decide to vote against the government even if threw the PM’s leadership into crisis. Ex-immigration minister Robert Jenrick quit last month, dubbing Sunak’s bill ‘weak’ Hardliners in the New Conservatives and the European Research Group (ERG) will meet later on Monday to discuss their amendments. Miriam Cates, co-founder of the New Conservatives, said Mr Sunak’s bill “won’t stop the boats” and vowed to vote for the Jenrick proposals.John Hayes, chair of the Common Sense Group, told The Independent: “There is significant support for the amendments – it’s more than I think the government were anticipating. I’m hopeful the government will listen, and we can persuade ministers to think again. There should be room for compromise.”But other leading Conservatives played down the rhetoric of the right-wing hardliners, and predicted less than 29 MPs would vote against the govenrment.One senior Tory MP – a hardliner on immigration who is sympathetic to the Jenrick amendments – told The Independent: “I suspect the rebellion will fade away in the end and the prime minister will get it through pretty much unchanged.”They added: “Most realise to defeat the government to bring down one of its major policies on this would be political madness. We’re only months away from an election.”Other right-wing rebels who have threatened to vote against the bill include former home secretary Suella Braverman, who told GB News it is “better to defeat this bill … and start again with a new bill that will work”.Lee Anderson could back amendments to Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill (Jacob King/PA)Grilled by broadcasters on the brewing rebellion, Mr Sunak refused to say whether he would fire Mr Anderson as the deputy Tory chair if he were to vote against the government this week.In an apparent bid to keep right-wingers happy, Mr Sunak talked up his willingness to ignore any injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights on Rwanda deportations flights.The Tory leader emphasised the part of the bill that gives ministers the power to decide whether to comply with Strasbourg court judgements.He told GB News: “But if you’re asking me you know, are there circumstances in which I’m prepared to ignore those rule 39s? Then yes, of course there are.”Suella Braverman has said she will vote against the Government’s Rwanda Bill next week if there are ‘no improvements’ (Justin Tallis/PA)Mr Sunak staved off an initial revolt last month over the Rwanda policy, which is designed to allow the government to deport migrants to the east African nation, a key plank of the PM’s “stop the boats” pledge.Tory deputy chairman Mr Anderson is said to have told government whips he will support rebel amendments to the bill. One MP familiar with Mr Anderson’s thinking told The Times that he told whips the government must support the amendments or lose him as deputy chairman.Ms Badenoch is said to have warned Mr Sunak’s chief of staff Liam Booth-Smith at a meeting in Downing Street of the political consequences of the Rwanda Bill failing. A source told The Times that she thought a “serious rebellion” had to be accommodated.However, Mr Sunak is not expected to support any of the amendments and a source close to the PM has said there is “limited room for manoeuvre” in changing the bill.Asked during a visit to Essex whether Tory rebels would be disciplined if they vote for amendments, Mr Sunak said: “I’m confident that the bill we have got is the toughest that anyone has ever seen and it will resolve this issue once and for all.”It camer as the i reported that six people from Rwanda have been granted asylum in Britain since the government signed its deportation deal with the country in 2022.It means more asylum seekers have arrived in Britain from Rwanda than vice versa since the agreement was signed, which stands at zero, and calls into question Mr Sunak’s plans to legally rule Rwanda a “safe” country. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe government has moved to proscribe extremist Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terrorist organisation.Security minister Tom Tugendhat said the Islamic fundamentalist group “encourages and promotes terrorism” as he condemned its “disgraceful celebration of Hamas’ appalling attacks on Israel”.Home secretary James Cleverly has laid before parliament a draft order to proscribe the Sunni Islamist political organisation under the Terrorism Act.If backed by MPs, it will come into force on Friday. It would mean “belonging to, inviting support for and displaying articles in a public place in a way that arouses suspicion of membership or support for the group will be a criminal offence”.James Cleverly has moved to proscribe the group (James Manning/PA)Founded in 1953, Hizb ut-Tahrir is an international political group whose long-term aim is to establish a global Caliphate ruled under Islamic law.While their headquarters are in Lebanon, the group operates in at least 32 countries including the UK, United States, Canada and Australia.The proscription of Hizb ut-Tahrir includes the global organisation, as well as all regional branches, including Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain.Proscription can mean prison sentences of up to 14 years for those associated with organisations. And the resources of a proscribed organisation are terrorist property and may be seized.Former prime ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron had both proposed banning the organisation but then dropped plans to do so. But the government faced renewed pressure to proscribe the group in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 terror attacks in Israel, which prominent Hizb ut-Tahrir members in Britain appeared to celebrate. Ministers had also faced pressure to proscribe the group in the wake of pro-Palestine demonstrations, at which demonstrators from Hizb ut-Tahrir had chanted “Jihad”.Mr Cleverly said: “Hizb ut-Tahrir is an antisemitic organisation that actively promotes and encourages terrorism, including praising and celebrating the appalling 7 October attacks.“Proscribing this terrorist group will ensure that anyone who belongs to and invites supports for them will face consequences. It will curb Hizb ut-Tahrir’s ability to operate as it currently does.”Hizb ut-Tahrir’s praise of the 7 October attacks and associated incidents, as well as describing Hamas as ‘heroes’ on their central website constitutes promoting and encouraging terrorism.Hizb ut-Tahrir has a history of praising and celebrating attacks against Israel and attacks against Jews more widely. The UK stands strongly against antisemitism and will not tolerate the promotion of terrorism in any form.This group’s antisemitic ideology and praise of attacks against innocent civilians in Israel outlines the necessity of its proscription. Tom Tugendhat condemned Hizb ut-Tahrir’s ‘disgraceful celebration of Hamas’ appalling attacks on Israel’ Mr Tugendhat said: “Hizb ut-Tahrir clearly encourage and promote terrorism.“Their celebration of Hamas’ appalling attacks on Israel, going so far as to call the terrorists who raped and murdered Israeli citizens ‘heroes’, is disgraceful.“We stand firmly against antisemitism and hatred against the Jewish community in the UK.”Labour welcomed the decision to proscribe the group, saying “there have long been serious concerns about Hizb ut-Tahrir”Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said they have been “exacerbated in light of Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attack on Israel”.“Those who incite violence and promote or glorify terrorism have no place on Britain’s streets and must face the full force of the law,” she added.Several countries have banned Hizb ut-Tahrir for their various activities, including Germany, Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan and several Central Asian and Arab countries. Austria banned symbols of the group in May 2021. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email “Everyone is welcome,” reads the sign at the church door in this quiet Dutch village, where neighbors greet each other from tidy porches overlooking manicured lawns. But that declaration of tolerance seems oddly out of place.Triggered by economic and cultural anxieties that have whipped up fears about immigrants, people here and throughout the Netherlands have veered far to the right politically. It’s an extreme example of a trend being felt across the continent that could tilt the outcome of this year’s European Union parliamentary election. In Sint Willebrord, which has few immigrants among its 9,300 residents, almost three out of four voters chose a virulently anti-migrant, anti-Muslim party in an election last year that shattered the Netherlands’ image as a welcoming, moderate country. The Party for Freedom, led by a peroxide-haired firebrand named Geert Wilders, received nearly a quarter of all the votes — in a country where less than 5 percent of the people are Muslim — with slogans such as “no Islamic schools, Qurans or mosques” and “no open borders and mass immigration we cannot afford.” Voters across Europe are increasingly empowering leaders like Wilders who promise to restrict immigration and, in some cases, constrain democratic freedoms: of religion, of expression, of the right to protest.These forces have bubbled up to varying degrees one country at a time, including in Germany, France, Spain, Sweden and Austria. But before long, experts worry, they could dramatically reshape the continent from the top down.In June, voters in the 27 member states of the European Union will elect their next Parliament for a five-year term. Analysts say that far-right parties are primed to gain seats – and more influence over EU policies affecting everything from civil rights to gender issues to immigration. “People have a score to settle with ‘old politics,’” said Rem Korteweg, senior research fellow at the Clingendael think tank in The Hague.In some European nations, the shift to the right has begun to gnaw at the foundations of democracy. In Hungary and Serbia, recent elections were free but not fair, democracy experts say, because the ruling parties captured the media, the courts and the electoral authorities.___This story, supported by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, is part of an ongoing Associated Press series covering threats to democracy in Europe. ___ RISING COSTS, RISING ANGER Support for Wilders’ Party for Freedom more than doubled since the last Dutch election in 2021. With 23% of the vote, Wilders stands a good chance of leading any future governing coalition.For a quarter century, voters across the Netherlands have grown increasingly disgruntled as successive governments — despite high levels of taxation — were unable to stop the erosion of cradle-to-grave benefits citizens had come to expect for things like education, health care and pensions. “It is as if people are being forced to vote for Wilders,” said Sint Willebrord resident Walter de Jong, 80. A lifelong baker, De Jong said he was forced to close his business last year because of rising costs and stringent government rules. The decline in Dutch living standards has coincided with rising immigration. Two decades ago, the Netherlands had a net outflow of migrants, but by 2022 that had swung to an influx of 224,000 in a nation of 17.5 million.The Netherlands has also been hit hard by a cost-of-living crisis affecting everything from the price of healthcare to food.The income needed to buy a first home has risen far faster than earnings, according to a 2022 study by the Dutch lender Rabobank. “Housing is a policy failure,” said Tom Theuns of Leiden University. “And then you have a populist who says, ‘OK, the reason is: asylum seekers are given priority.’ Even if this is a lie, this is how immigration becomes linked via racist messaging. It’s scapegoating.” SHUN OR EMBRACE POPULISM? For traditional parties of the European center-right and center-left, the success of populist messaging presents a challenge. One favored analogy for dealing with them has been a “cordon sanitaire,” the protective barrier put in place to stop the spread of infectious diseases. Politically speaking, that meant not forming coalitions with them.In Belgium, this strategy was used to isolate far-right nationalists, and in France, the Front National party of Jean-Marie Le Pen was kept at arm’s length.However, under Le Pen’s daughter, Marine, the Front National — rebranded as the National Rally — is no longer a pariah. In November, she was welcomed at a protest march against rising antisemitism. That prompted critics to use an unflattering German expression — “salonfähig” — to describe a former outcast being welcomed into polite society. In the Netherlands, forming a majority coalition with Wilders’ party was considered unthinkable not long ago.But then the mood of the continent began to change. The 2015 migration crisis in Europe was an opening for far-right politics following the EU’s halting response to the arrival of some 100,000 asylum seekers each month. Wilders’ anti-migrant rhetoric began to resonate even more.In July, Mark Rutte’s majority coalition collapsed over his handling of immigration, and his successor as leader of the VVD party hinted that Wilders might be a partner to talk to again.“Suddenly, a vote for Wilders was no longer a wasted vote,” said Korteweg of the Clingendael think tank. In December, a member of Wilders’ party became president of parliament, marking a breakthrough in political acceptance.Political analysts looking ahead to the EU Parliament elections in June say what is happening in countries like the Netherlands could be a harbinger for the governing body of the bloc’s 450 million people.Rather than far-right parties being pulled to the center, the center may veer to the right.“And this may be the biggest danger for Europe,” said Korteweg of Clingendael. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBritain is sending a task force of 20,000 to take part in the biggest Nato exercise since the Cold War which aims to make the alliance battle-ready at an increasingly dangerous time with conflicts raging in the Middle East and Ukraine.The UK contingent, from the army, Royal Navy and the RAF will provide almost half of the 41,000 service personnel which will take part in Operation Steadfast Defender which will have a multinational deployment of up to 50 warships, and dozens of aircraft, carrying out 700 air combat missions.The drills taking place across Germany, Poland and the Baltics on Nato’s 75th year are part of an urgent push for the alliance to change from essentially a crisis-response unit to full combat stance at short notice.The war games, using real-time geographical data to create more realistic scenarios for troops, will be aimed at countering an enemy coalition led by Russia, named “Ocassus” for the occasion, carrying out aggression against member states.But it will also be partly focused on dealing with hostile armed militias and terrorist groups which threatens the alliance’s interests internationally.Defence secretary Grant Shapps will warn that Britain’s “adversaries are busily rebuilding their barriers” and “old enemies are being reanimated”.Defence Secretary Grant Shapps will warn Britain’s enemies are ‘busily rebuilding their barriers’ A US led coalition is at present engaged in military action against the Houthis in Yemen with the US and UK carrying out airstrikes. Although Nato is not part of the mission, a number of member states are involved, and the exercise, it is believed, will help hone interoperability.As well as 31 member states, Sweden, whose bid to join is yet to be ratified by Turkey and Hungary, will be taking part in the exercise.Rishi Sunak announced a £2.5bn security assistance package for Ukraine during a visit to meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky last week. Mr Shapps is due to announce the dispatch of the force to the Nato exercise in a major speech at Lancaster House in London on Monday.The defence secretary is due to say “we are in a new era and we must be prepared to deter our enemies, prepared to lead our allies and prepared to defend our nation whenever the call comes.Rishi Sunak visited Ukraine to pledge £2.5billion in military aid to the war-torn country“Today our adversaries are busily rebuilding their barriers. Old enemies are reanimated. Battle lines are being redrawn. The tanks are literally on Ukraine’s lawn. And the foundations of the world order are being shaken to their core. We stand at a crossroads.“I can announce that UK will be sending some 20,000 personnel to take part in Exercise Steadfast Defender. It will see our military joining forces with counterparts from 30 Nato countries plus Sweden, providing vital reassurance against the Putin menace.”The Royal Navy contribution is of eight warships and submarines, and more than 2,000 sailors, including a Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier with F35B Lightning jets as well as helicopters, escort frigates and destroyers.In addition more than 400 Royal Marines Commandos will be deployed to the Arctic Circle to be the core of an allied amphibious task group designed to land and defend the alliance in the High North, where both Russia and China are making forays.Around 16,000 troops from the army will be based across eastern Europe from February to June 2024, with them tanks, artillery, helicopters, and airbourne and Special Operations Forces. The RAF will supply F35B Lightning attack and Poseidon P8 surveillance aircraft which will take part in simulated conflict scenarios against enemy fighters, missiles and drones.Nato’s military chief, the US Navy Admiral Rob Bauer, said recently: “A new era of collective defence is upon us and we need to be prepared to act”.The alliance has agreed to increase the number of its high-readiness forces from 40,000 to over 300,000. At a summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, last summer it agreed to new regional defence plans and the creation of an Allied Reaction Force to provide rapid response when needed. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer has warned of a rise in anti-Jewish racism as he vowed never to let antisemitism take hold in the Labour Party again.The Labour leader said antisemitism had taken “a new shape” in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 terror attacks on Israel, with those who “hate Jews” hiding behind pro-Palestinian demonstrators.Addressing the Jewish Labour Movement’s (JLM) conference on Sunday, Sir Keir said: “Let me assure you, we will never let antisemitism sneak back into the Labour Party under cover.Keir Starmer has vowed never to let antisemitism take hold in the Labour Party again “I see no greater cause in my leadership than this. This is my role.”It came as Sir Keir announced that ex-MP Luciana Berger would lead a review of the party’s mental health strategy, four years after she quit Labour blaming “a “sea of cases” of antisemitism.She rejoined Labour as a member last year, and her appointment to the key role was announced on Sunday.Ms Berger claimed that Labour had “turned a significant corner” under Sir Keir’s leadership.The former MP, who served as a shadow health minister between 2013 and 2016, will present recommendations ahead of the next election on how Labour should fulfil its plan to tackle mental illness.Luciana Berger praised the Labour leader’s efforts to remove antisemitism from the party It is another sign of progress in Sir Keir’s drive to “tear out antisemitism” from the “roots” of the Labour Party.Addressing JLM members, Sir Keir said he had “dragged [the] party away from that abyss”, adding that he would “never let Britain go anywhere near it either”.“This country will be safe for you and your children,” he promised.Addressing Israel’s war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s 7 October attacks, Sir Keir said British antisemitism was not “born the day after” the killing spree.“But nonetheless, after October the 7th we can all see that it’s taking a new shape,” he added.And after a series of high-profile marches across the country in protest at Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, he addressed Jews who “can see hate marching side by side with calls for peace”.“We understand that to be targeted for who you are, and attacked for things beyond your control, for your children to be afraid to walk the street or go to school, is the greatest anxiety that a parent or a community can face,” Sir Keir said.In a warning about the future of the Conservative Party after the next election, he said he was “worried” about where it might go.Right-wing Tories have used increasingly divisive language in recent months, and with a leadership contest expected if the Conservatives lose power, Sir Keir suggested there could be a further lurch to the right.“I worry about where it might go, because the politics of division don’t help the Jewish community, and they’ve never helped the Jewish community,” he said.Taking aim at Rishi Sunak and other senior Tories for engaging in culture wars, he warned that divisive politics “can easily boil over”. “I’m not sure the Tories can be trusted on that any more… I don’t know if they see the consequences,” he added.Accepting her new role, Ms Berger said she was “delighted to be back working with my party”.Ms Berger, who stood as a Liberal Democrat in the 2019 election and lost her seat, said: “Millions of people are experiencing poor mental health without the necessary support to recover.“The absence of a proper plan to address the causes of poor mental health requires urgent attention. Labour’s commitment to deliver a cross-government long-term strategy to tackle mental ill-health is an important step towards gripping this issue, and I am really excited to be leading this work.” More