Labour MPs who try to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by attacking Nato will be kicked out of the party, Keir Starmer has announced.
The Labour leader said there was “no room” for anyone who seeks to blame the nuclear alliance for Vladimir Putin’s decision to attack his neighbour.
His comments, at a meeting of the parliamentary Labour party (PLP) comes just days after 11 MPs were told they would lose the whip if they didn’t remove their names from a Stop the War coalition letter attacking Nato. All 11, plus three peers, did so.
Many on the left of the party accuse Nato of provoking Russia by expanding eastwards.
Starmer told the PLP meeting that the creation of Nato was one of the “great achievements” of the post-war Labour government.
And he made clear that any member who attacked the organisation would have their Labour membership scrapped.
He said: “Labour’s commitment to democracy, the rule of law and the sovereignty of independent nations is unshakable.
“Vladimir Putin is attacking all those things. Nato is defending them.
“There are groups in this country who haven’t seemed to understand that difference.
“Let me be very clear. There will be no place in this party for false equivalence between the actions of Russia and the actions of Nato.“
Meanwhile, Starmer also said that the war in Ukraine will “exacerbate” the cost of living crisis.
He said the economic sanctions being imposed on Russia will also have an impact on the UK, meaning the planned rise in national insurance due in April must be cancelled.
He said: “We must be clear and honest with the British people though these sanctions will have a knock-on effect here.
“But that’s no reason for the Government to wash their hands of the situation.
“The increases we will see don’t replace the cost-of-living crisis we already had. They exacerbate it.
“The idea that Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson’s tax rise on working people can still go ahead in April now is just laughable.“