Labour could drag Britain out of Nato, warns Red Ken

LABOUR is reconsidering its support for British membership of Nato, Ken Livingstone said yesterday.

Mr Livingstone, co-chairman of Labour’s defence review, said membership of the military alliance credited with keeping peace in western Europe for decades ‘doesn’t really matter’ any more.

The former London mayor also suggested his review would result in Labour ditching its support for Britain’s nuclear deterrent by the summer.

The re-think goes beyond even the 1983 Labour manifesto drawn up by Michael Foot. That document, dubbed the ‘longest suicide note in political history’ advocated unilateral disarmament, but said Labour should ‘maintain support for Nato’. Mr Livingstone’s comments sparked a backlash from Labour moderates, who already feel marginalised by Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘revenge reshuffle’ this week.

Wes Streeting, a backbench MP, wrote on Twitter: ‘What next? Replacing the Union flag with a white flag?’

Lord Robertson, the former Labour defence secretary and Nato chief, said the idea of the UK leaving the alliance was ‘ludicrous and irresponsible’.

John Woodcock, chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party’s defence commit- tee, said Mr Livingstone and his allies in the leadership were putting the party on a ‘road to oblivion’.

Kevan Jones, who quit as shadow defence minister this week in protest at the leadership’s drive to ditch Trident, warned the move would damage Labour at the polls.

He added: ‘Nato has been the cornerstone of our security and kept peace in Europe since the inspired leadership of the 1945 Labour government that helped form the alliance.’

Labour said last night the terms of its review ‘are still to be agreed’.

A spokesman insisted the review, which was ordered by Mr Corbyn, ‘would not include looking at our membership of Nato’. But asked about Britain’s membership, Mr Livingstone told the BBC’s Daily Politics show: ‘That’s one of the things we will look at. There will be many people wanting to do that. I don’t think it’s a particularly big issue because in the Cold War it was; it isn’t now. Russia is not planning to invade the West.’

Downing Street dismissed calls for a review of Nato membership. A spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister is very clear about the importance of Nato – it is the bedrock of our collective security.’

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