Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office reposted this
Walking into King Charles Street for the first time as Foreign Secretary last Friday, I passed the bust of Ernest Bevin. Bevin was an inspirational Labour Foreign Secretary – and a personal hero. Proud of his working class origins. Firmly internationalist in outlook. And committed to realism, a politics based on respect for the facts. Nowhere was this clearer than in his role helping to create the NATO Alliance seventy-five years ago. As Foreign Secretary, he was equally committed to supporting the nascent United Nations. But he recognised that “naked and unashamed” power politics would limit its ambitions. Establishing NATO therefore became central to his strategy for how to protect Britain and our allies against future aggression. Moscow protested that this new grouping targeted them. But, while Bevin made every effort to engage the Soviet Union in dialogue, he dismissed such criticism. If that was how the Kremlin felt about a defensive alliance, it said much about their intentions. Seventy-five years on, the wisdom of Bevin’s approach is as clear as ever. Multilateral institutions like the United Nations remain indispensable. But they are struggling under the strain of multiple challenges. With a return of war to our continent and security threats rising, strengthening Britain’s relationships with our closest allies is firmly in the national interest. NATO is the cornerstone of our collective security. Today, I am joining the Prime Minister and Defence Secretary at the NATO Summit in Washington DC. Our commitment to NATO and Britain’s nuclear deterrent is unshakeable. The war in Ukraine has only reinforced the enduring centrality of NATO. But as in Bevin’s time, Kremlin disinformation about NATO’s role is rife. I am as dismissive of this as Bevin was. If Putin feels threatened by a purely defensive alliance, that says much about their own intentions. It is Russia that has ridden roughshod over its neighbours’ sovereignty and conducted assassinations on Europe’s streets. It is Russia that has walked away from its international commitments, leaving a trail of lies and broken promises. As Foreign Secretary, I will do all I can to build on the great legacy Bevin left us. At a time of rising insecurity, we join our allies in marking NATO’s immense contribution to our collective security and renew our determination to invest in the most successful defensive alliance the world has ever known.
Dear foreign secretary. A defensive alliance my a**. The intention may have been at some point, but the implementation became a team of war mongering bullies. A way to bypass the UN. The UN should be the only body to have a ‘military alliance’.
It may well be David Lammy. However, it's not the UK's Government's responsibility to involve itself in Ukraine either. Russia does not have any intention to come into mainland Europe. Your Government said it was not following Conservative gimmicks. So stop as this is America's gimmick. Wait until Donald Trump is elected. He will stop it and the British Government will have egg on its face after your statement.
Your sensitivity to your position’s history is good. However, the world has changed enormously in recent decades. In Bevan’s day China was not worthy of a mention. Today it is an extremely important member of the global community. Also, important to mention in Brazil. Having May years of living and doing business within those two great countries I am also familiar as the very poor image projected by the UK government in all there dealings with those two important countries. Possibly, I see this more clearly from my experience so I can’t help wondering how you will address such?
David Lammy You’ll be ineffectual at best, or destructive at worst. Happy to be proven wrong. I hope you WILL prove us wrong, by making things right. Please stop taking Zionist funding and doing the bidding of Israel. Put UK citizens first. When you talk about the death and destruction in Palestine, please be clear that Israel is responsible for this death and destruction. Please acknowledge that there is a genocide taking place in Gaza. Please stop sending weapons parts and surveillance data to the IOF. Please reinstate funding to UNRWA. Please acknowledge that Israel fabricated atrocity propaganda, which you repeated (40 beheaded babies ) and did not later apologise for doing so. Please acknowledge all the UN reports, the slaughter of civilians, the numbers predicted by The Lancet, of 186,000 killed in Gaza. Please include context in your discussions about Oct 7 and please talk about the Palestinian hostages as much as you do about the Israeli hostages. Please drop the double standards, please respect International Law. The UK should be standing with South Africa at the ICJ. Do the right thing - you know what the majority of the UK public wants.
Very sad. More blah blah’ why? Because Secretary Lammy has an absolute minimum of funds and a vastly depleted staff working to job re-assignments every 2 or 3 years . Gone are the days of Bevin and an FCO filled with long term regional specialists. All blah blah now. Minimal funding. Minimal long term specialists. The consequences? Policy? What policy?
David Lammy Lammy, please all these hawkish rhetoric will be of no good to UK. Why did NATO expand eastwards after the collapse of the Berlin Wall? Of course, you are aware that Russia was in an economic crisis immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union. War is bad, no doubt and Putin is very wrong invading Ukraine. But, to be candid, how would Bevin have perceived Ireland joining the Warsaw pact during the Cold War?
Working at NATO and being chief UK negotiator for two NATO Summits was one of the most important jobs I’ve done. Great to see the focus on NATO from David Lammy personally and from the government
Return the U.K. to development super power status. Reinstate DFID level programming and strategy. Restore the £6bn annual budget cut to ODA. Spend the ‘0.7%’ in developing countries- wisely.
DELIVERING LAWS & POLICIES FOR THE WELLBEING OF CURRENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS
3moSuch a misrepresentation of facts ! It is sad that any black that is appointed in a European country tries to fit into the dominant narratives. I fear for Britain already ! I see more UK tax-payers' money fuelling senseless and provocative wars across the planet henceforth. Without NATO, the world will be more peaceful. I am neither pro-Russian nor anti-West. I am sensitive to any hawkish foreign policy. We need constructive approaches to international issues. You David Lammy mentioned how strained things are above. With this stance you are adopting brother, multilateralism that we have never had is an illusion. The Bevin I read so much about would not want to add fuel to fire. Things have changed, even Bevin himself would have realised it now. Please don't drag Bevin into this. New players are onboard. Russia is merely a minus of the threats the West is facing. One of the threats you face in the West is the misuse of tax payers' money, which is a critical threat to stability in Europe and anywhere. An average European, British or any other does not want to fund wars. Everyone is thinking sustainability, peaceful coexistence, wellbeing economies, shared prosperity. Everyone deserves peace ! War, huh ! What is it good for?