Sir Keir Starmer has announced he is sending a Navy carrier force north towards Greenland as he warned Putin‘s strength is growing in a speech at a major security conference today.
Speaking at the annual event in Munich, the Prime Minister said Russia is rebuilding its army and hit out at the ‘easy answers of the extremes of left and right’, hinting voting for Reform or the Greens could hasten war in Europe.
Claiming that both parties are ideological extremists who are ‘soft on Russia and weak on NATO‘, the PM said they would undermine Britain’s national security and bring war to Europe if they were in power.
Sir Keir hit out at past leaders for ‘looking the other way’ and warned that Russia could be ready to invade the rest of Europe by ‘the end of the decade’.
‘Now we feel the solidity of peace, the very ground that we stand on softening under our feet,’ he told the conference.
‘It is the job of leaders to be ahead of these seismic shifts, yet that is against the grain of history. Time and again leaders have looked the other way, only rearming when disaster is upon them. This time must be different.’
He continued: ‘Even as the war goes on, Russia is rearming, reconvening their armed forces and industrial base. NATO has warned that Russia could be ready to use military force against the alliance by the end of this decade.’
Sir Keir said that reaching a peace deal in Ukraine would not ‘end’ the threat of Russia to the west, rather ‘increase’ it – as Putin could accelerate his country’s rearmament.
Speaking at the annual event in Munich, the prime minister said Russia is rebuilding its army and hit out at the ‘easy answers of the extremes of left and right’, hinting voting for Reform or the Greens could hasten war in Europe
A carrier strike group, led by the HMS Prince of Wales (pictured) is being deployed to the north Atlantic, the PM announced today
Sir Keir also revealed a major deployment of some of the UK’s fiercest naval assets.
He said: ‘I can announce today that the UK will deploy our carrier strike group to the north Atlantic and the high north this year, led by the HMS Prince of Wales, operating alongside the US Canada and other NATO allies.’
It is thought this could signal a deployment towards Greenland amid recent tensions over the Danish territory. It is not clear exactly when the group will be sent.
A typical carrier strike group consists of a Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier, two surface escorts, a submarine and a fleet tanker.
Elsewhere, Sir Keir avoided mentioning Reform UK and the Greens by name but strongly hinted neither party has the capability to effectively defend the UK.
Drawing on language famously used on the eve of the First World War, he argued that Reform and the Greens would bring nothing but ‘division and capitulation and warned the lamps ‘would go out across Europe once again’.
These ominous words were used by former British foreign secretary Sir Edward Grey on the brink of war with Germany in 1914.
‘It’s striking that the different ends of the spectrum share so much,’ Sir Keir said. ‘Soft on Russia and weak on NATO — if not outright opposed.
‘[They are] determined to sacrifice the longstanding relationships that we want and need to build on the altar of their ideology. The future they offer is one of division and then capitulation. The lamps would go out across Europe once again.’
He added: ‘We must level with the public and build consent for the decisions we will have to take to keep us all safe. Because if we don’t, the peddlers of easy answers on the extremes of left and right are ready.’
Elsewhere, Starmer avoided mentioning Reform UK and the Greens by name but strongly hinted neither party has the capability to effectively defend the UK (Pictured: Reform UK leader Nigel Farage)
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper arriving at Munich Airport, Germany, ahead of the Munich Security Conference
Heads of state and government as well as foreign and defence ministers from all over the world are expected to attend the security policy talks from February 13 to 15
Sir Keir also accused the ‘extremes of our politics’ of ‘chipping away’ at the NATO alliance.
He added: ‘Europe must not turn its back on this, instead we must move forward together to create a more European NATO.
‘As I see it Europe is a sleeping giant. Our economies dwarf Russia’s more than ten times over. We have huge defence capabilities yet too often this adds up to less than the sum of its parts.’
Sir Keir’s speech, which also set out his foreign vision of bringing the UK closer to Europe and warned against becoming too close to the US, came as the PM fights for his political survival and ahead of what will be a three-way fight for the key seat of Gorton & Denton in Manchester.
If Labour loses the seat, which it won with a 13,000 majority at the last election, the prime minister could face a leadership challenge.
Before his speech, Reform said: ‘This is a speech from a prime minister on the verge of being hounded out of office by his own party. This is a man that refuses to find the money to increase defence spending and is making our country weaker and less secure.
‘Reform UK believes our priority should be rebuilding our armed forces, properly funding defence to at least 3.5 per cent of GDP, standing up to China and Russia and strengthening our bilateral relationships.’
Meanwhile a Green Party source told today’s Times: ‘This is a caretaker prime minister running scared, losing what’s left of his authority by going abroad to a summit on our future security and making cheap smears against the Green Party, because he knows Labour have blown it in Gorton & Denton.’
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (left) attends a trilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron (right) and German Chancellor Freidrich Merz at the Munich Security Conference in Munich
Sir Keir is joining approximately 50 world leaders at the summit, having already held high-level talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron
In his speech to world leaders, military chiefs and security officials who are also gathered for the three day conference, Sir Keir said Britain must turn towards Europe, end its military reliance on America and be prepared to stand on its own.
He called for a more ‘European NATO’ and a shift from ‘overdependence’ on the United States to ‘interdependence’ with Europe, forging a new path towards sovereign deterrence and hard power.
‘We are not the Britain of the Brexit years any more. Because we know that, in dangerous times, we would not take control by turning inward. We would surrender it. And I won’t let that happen,’ he said.
‘There is no British security without Europe and no European security without Britain. That is the lesson of history — and it is today’s reality too.’
While Sir Keir confirmed that the US remains an indispensable ally, he added: ‘I’m talking about a vision of European security and greater European autonomy that does not herald US withdrawal but answers the call for more burden-sharing in full and remakes the ties that have served us so well.’
Sir Keir is rubbing shoulders with around 50 world leaders at the conference, where he has already met with Germany’s Friedrich Merz and France’s Emmanuel Macron.
The leaders have also met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss efforts to end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia as the four-year anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion nears.
European defence and the future of the transatlantic relationship are on the agenda at the conference, at a time when America’s commitment to NATO has been called into question.
Tensions flared over Mr Trump’s recent threat to take over Greenland from NATO partner Denmark, and insults directed at various leaders.
In a briefing on the fringes of the meeting, defence secretary John Healey insisted the prime minister was ‘re-establishing Britain’s proud role in the world and its necessary role within Europe’.
Healey also opened the door to France and Germany joining Britain’s Tempest fighter jet project, also known as GCAP.
