Despite their apparent differences, all the political parties seem to agree that "Britain" needs to build up its defences in order to be "war ready". According to the former head of the Joint Forces Command, General "Sir" Richard Barrons, the army, navy and air force were allowed to "run down" over the past 35 years, because there was no real danger of attack from anywhere. But now things have changed... Today, apparently, we are facing "an existential threat"!

    But from where, what, or whom? From "lran"? After a supposed plot involving three white vans hanging around outside RAF Fairford? Or perhaps Russia, flying planes in the North sea, miles away from British airspace? Or China, from its "spy-hub" at Tower Hill? All politicians, with straight faces, claim that these examples are proof of the "urgent" global "threats" Britain faces and that the military budget must therefore increase: to 3% of GDP by 2030 (an estimated £100bn per year) and 3.5% by 2035 {(~£150bn per year). That's more than a 100% increase in the next 9 years - when this budget has already increased by 29% since 2016/17 and ate up £550bn of public spending during that time!

    Of course, these future targets do not actually mean that this government, or even the next, will actually spend these amounts. But that begs the question, what's the point of all these politicians and their mouthpieces in the media going on and on about military spending? Well, one thing is for sure, and that is that not one word is said about increasing the defence budget without the idea that welfare needs to be cut to pay for it! Yes, ridiculous "global threats", and even more ridiculous defence budget targets, all to justify cuts in benefits - apparently to benefit weapons manufacturers!

    So when Tory leader Badenoch announces her plan to build a "Shield Britannia" a la Israel's "lron Dome" {against dive-bombing seagulls?), the £1bn annual cost will end up in the pockets of BAE Systems, Rolls Royce or multinational missile maker, MBDA. As for Labour's new Defence Secretary Wes Streeting (was he not health minister just yesterday?!), he sells militarisation as a benefit for all of society, claiming he wants his ministry "to be a ministry of growth and opportunity" and to "boost British jobs and British industry". He just forgot to add, "and boost private profits"!

    All of these parties show how far they're ready to go in order to "defend" the interests of the capitalist class, by promising more public money straight into their pockets. And this money, they intend to take from the poorest section of the working class - unless we refuse to allow it...!

Right now, it's obviously very useful to talk about the threat from Russia and "Putin's dictatorship", as Labour ministers, but also the politicians of all the other parties do. Yes, rather than what's actually threatening us - that is, the ever-growing cost of living, the lack of jobs, the low wages, the high energy bills, exorbitant rents and the cuts looming everywhere. Not to mention the collapse of the National Health Service, the crazy expense of public transport and the cost of petrol and diesel at the pump...

    In fact to reverse the current crisis - which is rooted deep in the capitalist system, we would probably need a full-scale revolution!

    However, there are measures which could be taken by the government, which could help. The profit motive could, for instance, be removed from the utilities, starting with energy... Which would of course mean a full re-nationalisation - with utility workers and energy experts placed in charge...

    And hasn't Burnham said that he'd like to reverse the damage begun in the 1980s under Tory PM Margaret Thatcher, who privatised Jaguar Cars, British Steel, British Aerospace, British Airways, telecommunications, water, gas, electricity, council housing... It was said that she'd have privatised the air we breathed if she could have! But so far the reversal record of the Labour government is not so good, to say the least...

    The "renationalisation" already begun on the railways hardly deserves that name. The "public" GBR will continue to lease trains and carriages from private Rolling Stock Leasing Companies, the (bad) excuse being that buying them out would be prohibitively expensive "for the taxpayer". But wasn't it taxpayers' money which established them in the first place? In the meantime the ROSCOs merrily coin it in... from us!

    Rail Freight remains private too, as do Open-Access Passenger trains like Lumo, Grand Central and Hull Trains. And heavy maintenance, construction, cleaning {with workers on the minimum wage!), tech innovations and engineering projects remain outsourced to the private sector. As for fares - among the highest in the world - these have not come down!

    And what say do railway workers have over any of this? None! The exact same empty-headed bosses, bureaucrats and clueless ministers remain in charge! When it's obvious that those who do the work and run the service day to day, should be in control of it! It seems that revolution is definitely in order...