{"id":1105081,"date":"2026-07-22T18:45:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T18:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1105081\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T18:45:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T18:45:27","slug":"burnham-plunges-uk-deeper-into-war-against-russia-and-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1105081\/","title":{"rendered":"Burnham plunges UK deeper into war against Russia and Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just two days into his premiership, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has taken British imperialism deeper into the two major geopolitical conflicts. <\/p>\n

As he took office, Burnham\u2019s bellicose rhetoric against Moscow provoked an incident with a Russian warship in the Channel. Within 24 hours he then agreed to deepen collaboration with the Trump administration in its strikes against Iran.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Russian Baltic Fleet frigate warship Neustrashimy carried out a live-fire exercise in the Channel, 40 nautical miles off Plymouth on England\u2019s south coast. Neustrashimy fired its main gun for around 30 minutes between 9am and 10am\u2014roughly two hours before Starmer delivered his farewell speech in Downing Street. Burnham was invited by King Charles to form a government that afternoon.<\/p>\n

Russian frigate Neustrashimy [Photo: PH2 George Sisting, US Navy]<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Burnham had approved the US use of some UK bases with the bogus proviso that they would conduct \u201cdefensive\u201d air strikes on Iran. This was a continuation of a policy introduced by his predecessor Keir Starmer. In virtually his final task in office last Friday, Starmer chaired a meeting of his senior ministers agreeing that US bombers could continue using Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. Bloomberg noted that Burnham, prior to becoming prime minister, was briefed and agreed.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday evening, the Daily Express reported that US bombers were again leaving Fairford for the Middle East as Washington recklessly threatened Iran\u2019s Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility. The \u201cdefensive\u201d designation is a legal fiction concealing Britain\u2019s complicity in a war of aggression.<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s Russian naval exercise took place in international waters, outside British and French territorial limits, in accordance with maritime law. The Neustrashimy informed the Royal Navy offshore patrol vessel HMS Tyne, which had been shadowing them, of their intention to conduct gunnery activity and requested that it withdraw to a safer distance.<\/p>\n

HMS Tyne moved from around two nautical miles out to five. A French military aircraft made radio contact requesting the Neustrashimy clarify its intentions. No vessel was fired upon by the Neustrashimy and nobody was injured.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, a UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesperson stated that the Royal Navy \u201cmonitored that exercise throughout, continues to track the vessel\u2019s activity closely, and stands ready to protect UK national security.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

A Royal Navy source told the Times: \u201cYou could speculate that Russia was trying to challenge us. They know where the line is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied any hostile message was intended, insisting that \u201call exercises and actions of our warships are carried out in strict accordance with international maritime law\u201d and that there was \u201cno need to see any hints here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following this denial, however, Peskov drew attention to the incoming UK prime minister\u2019s repeated statements of \u201cunconditional support for Ukraine\u201d, confirming \u201cBritain\u2019s intention to keep doing everything for the war to continue.\u201d Asked whether relations with London might improve, he said Russia had \u201cno such hopes\u201d.<\/p>\n

Although the Neustrashimy is not a leading ship in Russia\u2019s navy, it is formidably armed. The 129-metre vessel crewed by around 200 carries a 100mm automated naval cannon able to fire 50 rounds a minute at ranges exceeding 20km, together with anti-ship missiles, torpedoes and close-in weapons systems. <\/p>\n

HMS Tyne is a patrol vessel based at Portsmouth, home to two-thirds of the Royal Navy surface fleet, including Britain\u2019s two aircraft carriers. The firing took place roughly 120 to 150 miles from the Portsmouth base. <\/p>\n

Upon entering Downing Street, and before even finalising his Cabinet, Burnham was flaunting his militarist agenda. His first call to a world leader was to Donald Trump, with talks centred on North Sea oil, trade, the US\/UK military alliance and the demining of the Strait of Hormuz. Burnham then spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with a Downing Street readout recording that Burnham \u201cbegan by reaffirming his and the UK\u2019s resolute commitment to the people of Ukraine and underscored that there would be absolutely no change in the UK\u2019s approach, including when it came to bearing down on Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n

The war against Russia is the one foreign policy commitment Burnham has made without qualification. Under first a Conservative government and then Labour under Starmer, almost \u00a322 billion (\u00a321.8 billion) has been squandered on the NATO-backed war on Russia. Since February 2022, there is also a standing commitment of \u00a33 billion in military aid every year until at least 2030\/31 and \u201cfor as long as it takes\u201d.<\/p>\n

Burnham wrote in the Times on July 9\u2014nearly two weeks before he took office on July 20\u2014that \u201cmy priority will be protecting the UK by boosting defence spending\u2026 Our commitment to NATO and the UK\u2019s nuclear deterrent will remain absolute. Our relationship with the US will remain critical\u2026 And Britain\u2019s support for Ukraine will not waver.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Available from Mehring Books<\/p>\n

The struggle against imperialism and for workers\u2019 power in Iran<\/p>\n

A pamphlet by Keith Jones<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

On May 27, just a week after he was confirmed as Labour\u2019s candidate for the Makerfield by-election\u2014where victory ensured his return to Parliament to take over from Starmer as prime minister\u2014Burnham posted on X \u201cfor the record\u201d that he had opposed Russia\u2019s annexation of Crimea in 2014, called on FIFA to strip Russia of the 2018 World Cup, \u201cresolutely supported Ukraine and Ukrainian Mayors since 2022\u201d, and believed \u201cthe British Right\u2019s closeness to Putin is a risk to our national security\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Loading Tweet …<\/p>\n

Burnham\u2019s newly appointed Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, used his first statement to denounce \u201cRussia\u2019s illegal war in Ukraine\u201d, pledged to \u201cnurture our strong, enduring and essential alliance with the United States\u201d and promised British assistance in reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said following the Russian naval exercise, \u201cRussia should be in no doubt about the resolve of this government and this prime minister.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s exercise follows months of escalation between London and Moscow, with the Starmer government upping the ante with Britain co-leading, with France, the \u201cCoalition of the Willing<\/a>\u201d backing war in Ukraine. In March, Starmer authorised British forces to board and seize Russia\u2019s shadow fleet tankers\u2014a decision the World Socialist Web Site warned threatened \u201cshoot-outs\u201d between British and Russian soldiers. That month, Britain helped the French navy seize the Mozambique-flagged Deyna in the Mediterranean, sanctioned for shipping Russian oil. <\/p>\n

In June, French forces aided by British units intercepted another sanctioned tanker. Days later, Royal Marine commandos and National Crime Agency officers landed by Chinook helicopter and seized the tanker Smyrtos in the Channel, 25 miles south of the Isle of Wight; its captain was charged with contravening sanctions. Two days after that, the Admiral Grigorovich\u2014the Neustrashimy\u2018s predecessor in Channel operations\u2014fired warning shots near a retired British couple sailing a yacht<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A Royal Marine helicopter flies over the tanker Smyrtos while soldiers board the vessell [Photo by UK MOD Crown copyright]<\/p>\n

A World Socialist Web Site perspective warned: \u201cWhatever the exact events, two facts are decisive and irrefutable. Shots would not have been fired if tensions between Russia and Britain had not been brought to a fever pitch. These tensions are the result of a de facto state of war between the European powers and Russia, which threatens to spread the catastrophe already underway in Ukraine across the continent.\u201d<\/p>\n

That warning has been confirmed, as has our insistence on the day Burnham took office that he \u201chas been installed to do what Starmer failed to do. He will continue and intensify Britain\u2019s participation in the US-led NATO war against Russia in Ukraine, as well as the broader global preparations for direct military conflict with Russia and China, at whatever cost to the working class.\u201d<\/p>\n

Join the fight for socialism! <\/p>\n

Fill out the form to be contacted by someone from the WSWS in your area about getting involved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just two days into his premiership, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has taken British imperialism deeper into the two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1105082,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7655],"tags":[748,270649,774,332,1757,771],"class_list":["post-1105081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-russia","tag-britain","tag-burnham","tag-iran","tag-russia","tag-trump","tag-war"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116965117803263189","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1105081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1105082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1105081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1105081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1105081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}