Demonstration opposing the London arms show, September 9, 2025 - photo:PBI

On October 24, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer convened in London yet another desperate meeting of the "coalition of the willing" [1] with European powers to discuss the failing state of NATO's unjust proxy war with Russia in Ukraine which has lasted for nearly four years. It was trailed right up to the last moment that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, the Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, as well as the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, "are all expected to attend the meeting in person at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office today". The press release also claimed that "a further 20 leaders are expected to dial into the call". However, in the event the meeting was virtual, apart from the presence of President Zelenskyy, as stated in a later communique dated October 24, looking as if the intended participants were not so willing to be seen with Starmer. President Zelenskyy himself met King Charles at Windsor Castle, demonstrating the state's use of the King as part of its arsenal of "soft power".

Protests against the NATO Parliament, Dayton, Ohio - Photo:Hawkins

This vague government press release following the meeting [2] said: "Prime Minister and President Macron today co-chaired a virtual meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, attended by President Zelenskyy." The statement failed to mention Starmer's earlier claim that the "coalition of the willing" wanted to "step up the gifting of long-range capabilities" to Ukraine. However, the statement confirmed that the "coalition of the willing", particularly Britain, and France, want to occupy Ukraine themselves in any "ceasefire agreement" and state that "they confirmed that plans are in place to deploy a Multinational Force Ukraine once hostilities have ceased, with a view to help secure Ukraine's skies and seas and regenerate Ukraine's armed forces".

Whilst in a previous meeting of the "coalition of the willing" in London in March, Starmer had claimed that the summit was to "present a peace plan to US president Donald Trump", with this summit Starmer desperately tried to sell his plans for long-range weapons and dangerously escalating the conflict with Russia and his plans to occupy Ukraine with NATO forces. Reports earlier in the week said that the "coalition of the willing" talks "come after discussions between Volodymyr Zelensky and Mr Trump failed to result in the US supplying Tomahawk missiles and reports that the Ukrainian president faced pressure to accept Moscow's demands" to bring about a permanent peace deal proposed by Russia. A government press release from Downing Street claimed that the "coalition of the willing" are "global leaders" and represent the "international community". Starmer said that he "will urge leaders to act to take Russian oil and gas off the global market". He also went on to claim that it was in Britain's interest to steal Russian assets and supply long-range missiles to escalate the war. He said that Britain wants to "finish the job on Russian sovereign assets to unlock billions of pounds to fund Ukraine's defences, and step up the gifting of long-range capabilities". The statement also said that "the meeting comes as the Prime Minister announces acceleration of missile delivery programme to deliver 140 lightweight multirole missiles to Ukraine this winter, supporting UK jobs".

Starmer goes even further in saying that the whole of Britain's "plan for change" in the economy is about weapons. He declares: "UK's national security - the foundation of the Government's Plan for Change - starts in Ukraine." Thus the "UK missile building programme has been accelerated to deliver more than 100 extra air defence missiles ahead of schedule. The package forms part of the £1.6bn deal between UK industry and Ukraine in March to provide more than 5,000 lightweight multirole missiles (LMM) to support Ukraine's defence, creating 200 jobs and supporting 700 existing jobs at Thales in Belfast."

This further reveals that Britain and its EU allies are not serious about reaching a peace agreement with Russia but are insanely dedicated to escalating the war as before, even if the US will not. They continue to encourage the regime in Ukraine to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian. This is so even now when the situation for Ukraine gets worse on the battlefield and many of their experts tell them that the war is unwinnable. In fact, one of the primary aims of Britain, France and Germany alongside the US is to maintain the interest of the huge war industries and to occupy Ukraine themselves with their troops, navy and air force under the guise of "peace keepers" if they are forced to accept a peace deal and this is why they favour a "ceasefire" rather than a peace agreement with Russia. This is in line with the Starmer's government's plan to boost its military spending. Starmer had told the Commons in February that Britain would spend £13.4bn more on defence every year from 2027 boosting the spend to 2.5% of GDP by 2027. He also told Trump at a NATO meeting that Britain would commit to reach 3.5%, or even 5%, of GDP by 2035.

This has nothing to do with stimulating economic development, or meeting the growing needs of the British people for jobs and their needs in the economy. Rather it is to do with war - encouragement and escalation to war - where it becomes in Britain's interest to make sure that wars keep going as often and as long as possible to serve Britain's militarised economy. This only leads to a situation where the government and the war industries behind it demand the escalation of wars like the war in Ukraine and give their full support to Israel and arming Israel in its genocide against the Palestinians and blocking their recovery in their own lands by refusing to hold Israel to account. For this purpose Britain hosted the largest global weapons expo Defence and Security Equipment International[3] in London on September 8-12 with some 1,600 military companies and 51 companies from Israel, and more than 180 British companies exhibited in the ADS Pavilion alone - hosted by the UK's aerospace, defence, security, and space industry trade association (over 200 British companies overall).

War criminals road sign, London arms show, September 9, 2025

Starmer also claims that one of the aims of Britain and the EU powers is the defence of Ukraine's sovereignty. However, this principle that Starmer pretends to uphold cannot be sorted out by the US, Britain, France and Germany and other EU powers that have themselves interfered in and violated the sovereignty of Ukraine. Britain, Germany and France have also interfered and waged war against Russia and are doing so now by using Ukraine as their proxy to "inflict a strategic defeat on Russia", arming and assisting the war with logistics and weapons. Since 2013, Britain and the US have been training the Ukrainian military and incorporating known historical neo-Nazi forces into the army of Ukraine in order to expand their control eastwards against Russia. In 2014, there was Anglo/US active backing for these neo-Nazi forces to carry out a coup against the elected President of Ukraine and install a Ukrainian regime for their exclusive use against Ukraine's neighbour Russia.

In other words, the NATO powers have expanded into Ukraine in recent years and carried out one provocation after another against Russia in Ukraine. Since the 2014 Maidan coup, Britain and the US have encouraged the Kyiv regime to reject the Minsk accords that were peace agreements signed in Belarus by Ukraine and Russia, facilitated by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and supported by Germany and France through the Normandy Format, and later endorsed by the United Nations [4]. Since the conflict began, Britain has consistently encouraged Ukraine to reject any peace deal with Russia. Boris Johnson notoriously flew to Kyiv in April 2022, six weeks after the conflict started, to tell Kyiv that signing a peace agreement in Istanbul would lose Anglo-US backing [5].

Starmer's "coalition of the willing" is yet another desperate and dangerous attempt to lead Europe in NATO's unjust and failing proxy war in Ukraine. Whilst they now call for a "ceasefire", the British and the old powers of Europe are desperate that no permanent peace comes about between Russia and Ukraine and are attempting to escalate the conflict and sabotage any peace deal that is made with Ukraine and Russia. All along Britain has continued its warmongering role in escalating the Ukraine war and being the first to supply modern battle tanks, Storm Shadow missiles and now Starmer declares that he will "step up the gifting of long-range capabilities".

Starmer claims that the British economy and his "plan for change" must be based in prosecuting the Ukraine war and in further militarisation of the economy. This is such a dangerous and insane direction for any economy. As the TUC recently demonstrated, the organised workers reject rearmament as not being a suitable foundation for the economy. Starmer's plan for the military and armament industries cannot be a part of the solution to the war in Ukraine which Britain helped provoke and continues to arm and escalate, endangering a wider war in Europe and the world. This must be opposed! Sending British or NATO troops to Ukraine must be resisted as a further escalation of the conflict. A lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia must be supported. Britain's dangerous warmongering must be blocked. The anti-war movement must prevail!

Notes
1. The "coalition of the willing" is reported to have 33 participants across Europe and beyond. The term "coalition of the willing" is an echo, presumably deliberate, of the Anglo-US-led powers that participated in the criminal invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003.

2. Press release - Chair's statement following 24 October Coalition of the Willing Leaders' meeting
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chairs-statement-following-24-october-coalition-of-the-willing-leaders-meeting

3. Key facts about DSEI 2025:
" Location: ExCeL Centre, East London
" Dates: September 8-12, 2025
" Exhibitors: Over 1,600 companies from 50 countries, including 25 from Poland and 51 from Israel
" Attendees: More than 50,000 visitors, including delegations from over 90 countries
" Theme: "Preparing the Future Force"
" Scope: Featured everything from small arms and armoured vehicles to combat aircraft and warships
It ranks alongside IDEX in Abu Dhabi and Eurosatory in Paris as one of the top three global defence expos.

4.The Minsk accords were peace agreements aimed at ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine (Donbas region). They were signed in Minsk, Belarus, and negotiated primarily by the Trilateral Contact Group-which included Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe). The process was supported by Germany and France through the Normandy Format, but they were not formal signatories.
There were two main agreements:
" Minsk I: Signed on September 5, 2014
" Minsk II: Signed on February 12, 2015
The United Nations Security Council did endorse the Minsk II agreement through Resolution 2202, adopted on February 17, 2015, giving it international backing.

5. Boris Johnson visited Kyiv during the early stages of the war in April 9, 2022. According to reporting from Ukrayinska Pravda, Johnson used that visit to discourage President Zelenskyy from pursuing peace negotiations with Russia. The paper claimed Johnson told Ukrainian officials that even if Ukraine was ready to sign a deal with Russia, the West - particularly the UK and US - was not. This reportedly influenced Kyiv to pull back from talks that had been progressing in Istanbul.

UCU strike at Goldsmiths, November 2019

On October 20, the University and College Union (UCU) began balloting over 65,000 members at universities across Britain for strike action. The ballot, which will run until November 28, will if successful pave the way for strike action at all 137 higher education campuses in the new year. UCU and its sister unions are demanding a national agreement to counter redundancies, protect existing agreements, improve pay, and demand the government implement a new higher education funding settlement.

According to the UCU, the ballot comes after the union, along with GMB, Unite, Unison and EIS, rejected a derisory 1.4% pay offer from employer body the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA). University employers have also attempted to remove over 15,000 jobs, claims the UCU. These sister unions will also ballot their members, coordinating their action.

"Over 15,000 jobs up for the chop. Meanwhile, staff who remain are being told to accept a huge real terms pay cut as they see their teaching and student learning conditions degraded. Our members have no choice but to vote yes for strike action and fight to protect higher education," said UCU general secretary Jo Grady. "Vice-chancellors need to understand how angry their workers are, stop harming the sector and return to the negotiating table. Failing to do so will only lay the ground for disruption across UK universities."

Staff at 47 higher education institutions are also to be balloted by Unite for strike action following the 1.4% pay offer for 2025/26 from UCEA. The Unite ballot opened on October 20 and runs until December 1. Unite members work primarily in non-academic roles within the HE institutions including maintenance, libraries, facilities management and administrative roles.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Our members deserve far better than a real terms pay cut after over a decade of below-inflation pay rises and when they are faced with a cost of living crisis that is seeing everything but wages going up in price. The employers should be ashamed of treating hard working staff in this way." Andy Murray, Unite national officer for education, added: "The employers' offer fails to value our members and makes them bear the cost for the broken funding model in higher education. Unite's members have been left with no option to ballot for industrial action. Strike action will cripple the sector."

Cardiff University Cuts protest

Support staff in Unison at more than 100 universities across Britain also began voting on October 20 on potential strike action. This national industrial action ballot closes on November 28. More than 90% of members who took part in a Unison consultation in the summer rejected the 1.4% pay offer for 2025/26 from the UCEA.

A week earlier, on October 13, the UCU and its sister unions began balloting 10,000 staff at 65 further education colleges across England. UCU is calling for a New Deal for Further Education (FE), including a 10%/£3,000 pay rise, pay parity with schoolteachers' pay, national workload agreements, and a new binding national bargaining framework. The union will meet to decide next steps and warns college leaders across England to make a serious offer or face potential industrial action later this year.

This ballot, which closes on November 17, followed the employer body, the Association of Colleges (AoC), recommending a pay award of just 4%.

Jo Grady said: "It is unacceptable that following years of pay degradation, college staff are expected to stomach further real-terms pay cuts, while at the same time dealing with ever-higher workloads. The Prime Minister said this week that Labour wants to put further education on an equal footing with higher education, but this will be impossible unless the government tackles the issues causing half of college teachers to leave the sector within three years.

"Further education staff are the beating heart of our communities and transform the life chances of hundreds of thousands of students every year. They shouldn't be forced to ballot for industrial action just to get decent pay and conditions. Staff, students, and local communities deserve better. Colleges must pay our members fairly and ensure manageable workloads. These changes must be underpinned by a new national collective bargaining structure for the sector. Our demands are reasonable. If they are not met, the sector will face serious disruption in the coming months."

Meanwhile, a number of local disputes exemplify the general issues being taken up in the dispute at the national level.

The University of Derby is set to make half of its senior academics redundant, putting experienced researchers, teachers, and experts at risk. This comes after a voluntary redundancy scheme, which has already seen several senior staff leave. The university's plans could see around 265 staff lose their jobs, more than 5% of its workforce, according to the UCU. At the same time, Lancaster UCU members have voted to strike.

The union also reports that Cardiff UCU members have in favour of potential strike action in a consultative electronic ballot, while UCU members across Scotland are preparing for an autumn of strikes and industrial action as the funding and job cuts crisis in Scottish universities deepens.

The Educational Institute of Scotland-University Lecturers' Association (EIS ULA) also on October 20 began a statutory ballot of its members for strike action. The EIS ULA ballot will also remain open for almost six weeks, closing on November 28. A recent consultative ballot saw members overwhelmingly reject the full and final pay offer made by UCEA.

Garry Ross, EIS National Officer for Higher Education, said: "1.4% is a pitiful pay offer and fails to reflect the expertise and dedication of staff who, without them, universities could not operate. Employers have taken their staff for granted for too long, evidenced by years of eroded salaries whilst some institutions continue to make multi-million pound surpluses and hold significant reserves."

He added: "Our members continue to deliver high quality education and research opportunities to students from Scotland and around the world, working harder than ever under an increasing workload and constrained resources. Yet, they are expected to accept another real-terms pay cut. Staff throughout higher education have had enough. They feel undervalued and underappreciated by their university senior management, which has resulted in the EIS ULA moving forward with a statutory ballot for strike action."

As Garry Ross makes clear, staff work with expertise and dedication, but are expected to suffer the burden of pay cuts while constrained to work harder than ever. Enough Is Enought! It is important to emphasise the sentiment of the staff that in fighting for their rights, pay and conditions, university and college employees are at the same time fighting for the future of higher and further education.

(Source: UCU, Unite, Unison, EIS)

Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parilla speaking at a solidarity meeting in New York

On Wednesday, October 29, the United Nations General Assembly is due to vote on the resolution titled "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba". There is an overwhelming demand globally to end the US blockade.

Cuba has presented the non-binding resolution to the UNGA every year since 1992 (except 2020) and each year the resolution has passed, in recent years almost unanimously, signifying the resolute international opposition to the US blockade. The context for this year's vote is the Trump administration's imposition of new sanctions, tightening financial and travel restrictions and sanctioning third-country nationals who host Cuban doctors and once again putting Cuba on the US list of "State Sponsors of Terrorism".

By imposing ever greater hardship on the people of Cuba who have survived six decades of economic sanctions, political threats and efforts to undermine and isolate Cuba, the Trump administration is trying might and main to achieve regime change. These efforts are aimed at crushing the Cuban Revolution and re-establishing US domination over the Cuban nation which, in word and deed, defends the revolution which ended foreign control. The Cuban people stand second to none in the world in support for all those struggling against foreign occupation, domination and for peace and independence. It is this principled stand which the Trump administration is attacking with its current campaign of defamation and slander against Cuba. Cuba presents the motion each year as part of its defiance and defence of its independence.

A report presented to the UN by Cuba ahead of the 33rd vote sets out the wide-ranging devastation caused by the US blockade. The 55-page document states that the cost of the US blockade to the Cuban economy has increased by a crippling 49 per cent on the previous twelve months.

Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parilla, presenting the findings at a press conference on September 16, stated that the blockade remains "the main obstacle to the recovery of the Cuban economy". He emphasised that structural barriers imposed by this policy and its legal framework are the primary obstacle to any economic activity in the country, both state-run and non-state-run. "If there hadn't been the tightening of the blockade and the extraordinarily oppressive effect it has on our families, which translates into economic damage... GDP would have grown 9.2 per cent last year," he said. Total damages to the Cuban economy for the period the report covers (March 2024 to February 2025) amount to $7.6 billion, an increase of 49 per cent compared to last year. The cumulative total since 1962 is $170.7 billion.

On September 26, Bruno Rodríguez Parilla, spoke during the General Debate at the General Assembly. He began by reiterating Cuba's solidarity with the Palestinian people and demanding that the UN take action to end the genocide against the Palestinians. He denounced the Trump administration's unprovoked military aggression against Venezuela and reaffirmed Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace. Rodríguez Parilla forcefully presented Cuba's case and the demand that the US end its criminal blockade against Cuba and remove it from the US list of "State Sponsors of Terrorism".

The Cuban Foreign Minister stated: "In addition to the challenges Cuba faces, stemming from its condition as a small island developing State, our country is suffering the devastating and cumulative impact of the policy of hostility and economic suffocation imposed by the United States for more than six decades. The blockade against Cuba persists and has been tightened to the extremes. It is an overwhelming and prolonged economic war aimed at depriving Cubans of their livelihoods and sustainability, of their existence as a fraternal and joyful people. Anyone claiming otherwise would be lying [...] This aggression has escalated to unprecedented levels in the last eight years and has included increasingly elaborate, surgical and extraterritorial actions of persecution and economic pressure against third parties. It imposes multiple and extraordinary impediments on production, trade and finances as well as the services and policies that guarantee social justice and life itself."

The Foreign Minister also denounced the Trump Administration for its newly added sanctions against Cuba and for putting Cuba back on the US spurious list of "State Sponsors of Terrorism". He noted in his speech: "Cuba is a victim of terrorism. For years and still today, terrorist acts against the country have been organised and financed from the United States territory. Well-known perpetrators of horrendous acts of aggression against the Cuban people - resulting in thousands of deaths, maiming and significant material damage - live there peacefully and with absolute impunity. In compliance with its responsibilities against terrorism and in support of UN efforts against this scourge, the Cuban government has officially shared with the United States government in recent years the names and information about 62 individuals and 20 organisations based in that country which have been responsible for violent and terrorist acts which, from the US territory, continue to participate in actio ns of this nature against Cuba. No response has been received, and no one knows whether the US authorities have taken any action against any of them. It is cynical that the United States government labels Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism following political and economic coercion purposes. This is a slander that neither this Organisation nor any of its Member States share."

More than 40 countries spoke in defence of Cuba at the high-level session of the General Assembly on September 29, calling for the end of the US blockade against Cuba and its unjust designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. As the repeated votes show, it is the US and Israel that are isolated and it is Cuba which is much loved and defended by the world's peoples. The blockade must be ended!

Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Government of the Republic of Cuba rejects the mendacious allegations being spread by the United States Government concerning an alleged involvement of Cuba in the military conflict in Ukraine. This is a slanderous accusation first launched in 2023 by certain media outlets without offering any evidence or substantiation of any kind, and clearly serving an assigned purpose.

The Cuban Government categorically reaffirms that Cuba is not part of the armed conflict in Ukraine, nor does it participate with military personnel there or in any other country.

Our authorities have no precise information regarding Cuban nationals who, on their own initiative, have participated or are participating in the military forces of either side of the conflict. What is indisputable is that none of them acts with the encouragement, commitment, or consent of the Cuban State.

In accordance with its national legislation and international obligations, the Cuban Government maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward mercenarism, human trafficking, and the participation of its nationals in any armed confrontation in another country-all of which constitute serious crimes subject to severe penalties under national law.

As declared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on September 4, 2023, upon detecting the presence of Cubans in the conflict in Ukraine, steps were taken to neutralise recruitment within the national territory, and criminal proceedings were initiated accordingly.

Between 2023 and 2025, Cuban courts have conducted nine criminal proceedings for the offence of mercenarism, involving forty defendants. In eight of these cases, trials have been held, and in five, guilty verdicts were handed down against twenty-six defendants, with sentences ranging from five to fourteen years of imprisonment. Three cases await the court's judgment, and one case is pending trial. Cubans participating on both sides of the armed conflict have been recruited through organisations not based in our country and having no connection whatsoever with the Cuban Government. In the vast majority of cases, this recruitment has been carried out abroad among Cuban nationals residing or temporarily staying in various countries, just as recruitment for that conflict has taken place among people of many other nationalities, in numbers that also remain imprecise.

The United States Government has not provided and will not be able to offer a single piece of evidence to support its baseless and mendacious accusations in this new defamatory campaign against Cuba.

Havana, October 11, 2025

Cuba Solidarity Campaign, October 27, 2025

UN votes against the blockade of Cuba, 2024

The Cuba Solidarity Campaign has written to the UK government urging them to once again vote in favour of the United Nations General Assembly resolution, "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba".

Over the past three decades the UK has maintained a principled stance in opposing the US blockade against Cuba alongside the overwhelming majority of the international community.

The US blockade has been condemned at the UN for more than 30 years, and last year 187 countries voted against the measure. The blockade is extra-territorial in its application and is harmful to British trade and sovereignty. Maintaining the UK's vote in favour of the resolution reaffirms these principles and the country's independent, rules-based foreign policy.

We understand that the US is applying diplomatic pressure on allies to change their position. We urge the UK to continue to stand firm alongside the overwhelming international consensus demanding an end to this unjust blockade.

At the same time we continue to urge the UK government to do more to support bilateral trade and co-operation between the UK and Cuba.

The Executive Committee of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign