UK foreign secretary: Why NATO remains core to British security
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 is a personal hero of mine. He was 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, which included signing the North Atlantic Treaty in April 1949 on behalf of the United Kingdom. As foreign secretary, he was equally committed to supporting the nascent United Nations. But he recognized that “naked and unashamed” power politics would limit its ambitions. Establishing NATO therefore became central to his strategy for how to protect Britain and its 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, that said much about its intentions.
Seventy-five years on, the wisdom of Bevin’s approach is as clear as ever.
Multilateral institutions such as 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 the United Kingdom’s collective security. This week, I am joining the British prime minister and defense secretary at the NATO Summit in Washington, DC. Our commitment to NATO and Britain’s nuclear deterrent is unshakeable.
The United Kingdom and our allies must step up defense spending. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has confirmed that the British government will launch a Strategic Defence Review, putting a “NATO-first” policy at the heart of Britain’s defense plans and setting out a road map to spending 2.5 percent of gross domestic product on defense. At the summit, the United Kingdom has been arguing that all NATO allies should adopt this as a new defense target.
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 Russian President Vladimir Putin feels threatened by a purely defensive alliance, that says much about his own intentions. It is Russia that has ridden roughshod over its neighbors’ 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.
The prime minister has recommitted to providing Ukraine with three billion pounds a year of military support for as long as needed. And Britain is contributing forty million pounds to NATO’s Comprehensive Assistance Package for Ukraine, making us the third-largest donor to the package. As the prime minister will tell NATO allies on Thursday, the frontline defense of the Euro-Atlantic region is the Ukrainian trenches.
As foreign secretary, I will do all that 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.
David Lammy is the UK foreign secretary.
Further reading
Wed, Jul 10, 2024
Our experts read between the lines of NATO’s Washington summit communiqué
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Atlantic Council experts offer their insights on NATO’s Washington Summit Declaration, released on Wednesday during the Alliance’s seventy-fifth-anniversary meeting in the US capital.
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Live expertise and behind-the-scenes insight as NATO leaders gather at the Washington summit
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‘I’m an optimist for the future of this Alliance,’ says NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
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The outgoing NATO secretary general spoke with Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe at the NATO Public Forum on July 10.
Image: UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy looks at a sculpture of Ernest Bevin (Ben Dance / UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)