IN 2020, when he was campaigning for the leadership of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer promised that he would never take the UK into another war without the prior consent and approval of Parliament.
We can now add that to the very long list of Starmer's broken promises and right-wing U-turns.
On Thursday evening Sunak, along with US President Joe Biden, launched a bombing campaign against a number of targets in Yemen in retaliation for Yemeni's Houthi government (which is not recognised by most countries including the UK) embarking on a series of attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
The Irania-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have launched 25 attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea since November, which has forced shipping lines to suspend passage through the key trade route and to reroute their vessels via the long detour around the Cape of Good Hope in the far south of Africa.
Today, Starmer tells us that he fully supports Rishi Sunak's decision to bomb Yemen, despite the fact that Parliament had not been informed, never mind given its consent and approval.
READ MORE: Former Labour MP pans Keir Starmer for U-turn on UK military action
Once more, the Labour party marches in lockstep with the Tories to the beat of British nationalism's military drum. This is despite the dismal record of Western military involvement in Middle Eastern nations in recent history.
Starmer said that he supported the action in order to protect civilian lives from Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. It's notable that Starmer did not show so much concern for the tens of thousands of civilian lives currently being lost in Israel's disproportionate campaign of destruction in Gaza.
The hypocrisy is off the charts.
He doesn't care about thousands of Palestinian children being slaughtered, but he cares a great deal about the prompt delivery of car parts and washing machines on container ships.
The on-going war in Yemen war has reportedly killed more than 150,000 people and left 21 million others in need of humanitarian assistance.
The Houthis, who represent Yemen's Shia Muslim community, control much of the centre and north of the country, including the capital Sanaa, are under constant attack from Saudi Arabia, which uses large quantities of Western supplied weaponry against a largely defenceless population.
Following the Israeli destruction of Gaza, the Houthis announced that they would target shipping in the Red Sea ostensibly in order to prevent weapons and supplies reaching Israel.
Had Starmer and Sunak demonstrated even half the amount of energy, political capital, and resources as they are now devoting to raining down destruction on one of the most impoverished countries in the world into pressuring the Israeli government into implementing a ceasefire in Gaza, then perhaps there would have been no attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and no need for this dangerous and destructive escalation which threatens to engulf the wider region in war.
A number of politicians, including the SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn and Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf, have demanded the immediate recall of Parliament.
Writing on social media, Stephen Flynn said: "It is incumbent upon the UK Government to appraise Parliament as soon as possible and MPs must therefore be recalled to Westminster."
For his part Humza Yousaf noted that the UK "does not have a good record of military intervention in the Middle East" and added that "it is therefore incumbent that Westminster is recalled."
He also demanded that MPs at Westminster should "have their say” before the UK launches military action, and that the Tory government must produce evidence of the legal basis for its strikes in the Red Sea.
READ MORE: Humza Yousaf: UK must prove legal basis for Red Sea strikes
He added: "If we have learnt anything from the past, the very recent past, it is that any decision to instigate military action should be evidence-based, and we should be transparent with the people of Scotland and indeed the UK about the reasons for military intervention."
Starmer's predecessor Jeremy Corbyn said it was "utterly disgraceful" that Parliament has not been consulted on the strikes and said: "Military action in Yemen by the UK & US government is a reckless act of escalation that will only cause more death and suffering."
After stressing that the military action had his full support, and issuing instructions to Labour politicians to avoid public comment on the situation other than to express their agreement for his position, Keir Starmer said: "I do think there needs to be a statement in Parliament, which isn’t sitting today so it's for the Government to make sure there’s a statement in Parliament as soon as possible at the first opportunity, to set out the justification, to set out the limits and scope of the operation."
However if the matter does come to a vote in the Commons, Starmer will certainly order his MPs to back the Conservative government, and Michael Shanks and Ian Murray will obediently comply.
Yousaf offers to ‘work constructively’ with Labour post-election
In other news, First Minister Humza Yousaf has given a speech urging Scots to vote SNP at the next General Election in order to turn Scotland into a Tory-free zone.
With Scotland yet again being dragged into a war it did not ask for, without any consultation, it is imperative for Scots to reject both the Tory parties of militaristic British nationalism: the blue Tories of Sunak and the red Tories of Starmer.
However, speaking at the launch of the SNP's election campaign in Glasgow on Friday morning, the First Minister offered to 'work constructively' with a future Labour government and said any SNP MPs elected would work with Keir Starmer's party to prevent any Labour "backsliding on green investment" or privatisation of the NHS.
He also took aim at Labour's repeated U-turns on a range of issues, stressing that the SNP would ensure Labour are held to account in government.
He insisted that Scotland needs SNP MPs in the House of Commons in order to "make sure we aren't ignored" and Scottish issues are kept on the agenda.
There is nothing that Starmer would like more than to see Scotland shut firmly back in the Union flag themed shortbread tin.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel