LONDON german-foreign-policy.com spoke with Alex Gordon about the growing resistance of British trade unions to the current arms build-up and the threat of war. Gordon was president of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), the largest rail and transport union in the United Kingdom, from 2010 to 2012 and again from 2022 to 2024. He is also a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), which has been campaigning against nuclear armament since its foundation in 1957. At the end of May, RMT and CND published the Alternative Defence Review, a counter-model to the Strategic Defence Review, the British government's central foreign and military policy strategy paper. The Alternative Defence Review has contributed to a change of course among British trade unions, which shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine supported the arms build-up enforced by the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Today, they have taken a clear stand against the diversion of huge amounts of public money away from the workers and towards the arms industry. Read more

BERLIN/LONDON/OSLO (own report) – The German Navy has received the first of the five P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft ordered from the US. The tech-filled, Boeing-built aircraft is primarily designed for submarine hunting. It will be used to monitor movements in the Baltic Sea and, above all, in the North Atlantic, where it will be tasked with tracking down Russian submarines. North Atlantic operations are considered critical because all units of Russia’s Northern Fleet must cross this sea area to reach the Atlantic from bases on the Kola Peninsula. In a war scenario they could attack supply routes from North America to Europe. The German Navy’s P-8A Poseidon aircraft will be stationed at the British air base in Lossiemouth with its direct access to the North Atlantic. In ordering these aircraft, Germany has opted for a US product instead of the Franco-German MAWS maritime patrol aircraft as originally planned. Berlin’s decision marks a setback for the creation of an independent European defence industry. On the other hand, the submarines and warships to be deployed in the North Atlantic are being made in Europe. There is close cooperation between various defence companies from the United Kingdom, Norway and Germany. Read more

BERLIN/LONDON (own report) – According to an inquiry report published last week, contaminated blood plasma products from the Bayer Group in Germany, and others, caused the deaths of around 3,000 people. 30,000 people – mainly hemophiliacs who are dependent on blood clotting products – were infected with HIV or Hepatitis C. The report speaks in terms of avoidable deaths and raises serious accusations of the health system and politicians in authority. On the other hand, it refrains from criticising the pharmceutical industry. That Bayer and other companies had had detailed information about the risks of transmission, is apparent from company internal documents. In addition, for a prolonged period, they had refused to adopt virus inactivation methods to preserve their profits. When the USA and a growing number of European countries were making heat treatment of blood products a condition for certification, the companies exported their old stockpiles to Asia and Latin America. Victims are demanding an official apology. Initiatives critical of the company are demanding that the company assume a share of the compensation payments of around eleven billion euros promised by London. Read more

BERLIN/MOSCOW/LONDON (own report) - Bundeswehr officers are discussing Ukrainian attacks on targets in Russia using German weapons. This emerges from an intercept by Russian intelligence. The Russians have recorded and made public a Webex video conference recently held between four German air force officers, including the head of the Luftwaffe, Ingo Gerhartz. In their discussion they say it would be feasible to destroy the Kerch Bridge with “ten or twenty” Taurus cruise missiles. Successful strikes would, however, require German programming and targeting data to be passed on. And this act would, in turn, meet the “criterion of being at war”, in the judgement of the four officers. In other words, it would mean Germany entering into war with Russia. However, if the Taurus cruise missiles were supplied to Ukraine without also providing German data, the weapon’s effectiveness would, they agree, be significantly reduced. The officers then speculate as to whether British soldiers deployed in Ukraine could provide support for Taurus strikes. London had already reacted angrily last week to statements by Chancellor Olaf Scholz to the effect that British military personnel were already actively supporting Ukrainian missile attacks. The candid Scholz was, said Tory hawk Ben Wallace, a former UK Defence Secretary , “the wrong man in the wrong job at the wrong time”. Read more

LONDON/BERLIN (Own report) – The German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the British Labour Party are launching an initiative to enhance German-British military and armament cooperation including the joint deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group to the Pacific. Last week, the SPD-affiliated Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the London-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) have presented a report outlining relevant recommendations. Not only should the two countries’ armed forces and arms industries significantly increase their cooperation, the foreign and defense ministers in Berlin and London should also intensively coordinate their policies. Foreign policy experts in Berlin are promoting such steps to elude the military and arms industry’s dependence on the USA, which had significantly increased since the beginning of the Ukraine war. John Healey, Shadow Defense Secretary of the Labour Party, which has good chances of winning next year’s elections, announced a UK-German military agreement within the first six months of a Labour Government. Nils Schmid, Spokesperson on Foreign Policyfor the SPD Parliamentary Group agrees with the proposals. Read more

BERLIN/BRUSSELS/LONDON (Own report) – The EU may be at the threshold of its next trade war, according to remarks pertaining to today’s appointment of Liz Truss as the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It is caused by the dispute between Brussels and London over the Northern Ireland protocol, which, becoming effective in the aftermath of Brexit, imposes the establishment of a customs border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, obligating London to comply with single market regulations in Northern Ireland. Given the fact that, until now, the EU has only been willing to allow minor corrections to the protocol, even though it is provoking serious tensions in Northern Ireland, the British government is preparing to institute changes unilaterally. It has been reported that Truss could suspend parts of the protocol soon after taking office. Such a move could provoke a “trade war” between the EU and Great Britain, Katarina Barley (SPD), Vice President of the EU Parliament, was quoted to have said. The damage that would ensue from that trade war, would add to the severe damage inflicted on the economies of Germany and the EU from their sanctions on Russia. In addition, because of the power struggle with Beijing, there is also a danger of a slump in business with China. Read more

BERLIN/LONDON/WASHINGTON (Own report) - The frigate Bayern, which set sail for East Asia yesterday, will soon make a port call at Diego Garcia, an island under occupation, in violation of international law, and serving military purposes. It is the main island of the Chagos Archipelago in the middle of the Indian Ocean and the site of a strategically important US military base. The Chagos Archipelago is an old British colonial possession that had once belonged to Mauritius. It was detached, in violation of international law, during the decolonization of Mauritius, to allow the United States to construct a military base. The population was deported to impoverished regions on Mauritius. In the meantime, several international court rulings have been handed down and a UN General Assembly resolution has been passed on this issue - all concluding that Mauritius has sovereignty over Diego Garcia and calling on the United Kingdom to hand back the illegally occupied Chagos Archipelago. To this day, London and Washington refuse to comply. This does not bother Berlin. Read more

BERLIN/LONDON (Own report) - Fierce attacks by politicians and media in Germany against Great Britain are flanking the ratification of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen threatens punitive measures, if London fails to scrupulously comply with the agreement. Punitive tariffs are being discussed in Brussels. Germany's main media outlets are fueling the old prejudice against Great Britain of the "perfidious Albion." German government advisors warn that the severely "strained" relations "limit" the urgently desired EU-UK foreign and military policy cooperation. "Trust" could be built through exchanges in "bilateral and minilateral formats," for instance in the "E3" framework (Germany, France, Great Britain) to lay "the foundation for long-term institutionalized cooperation." At the same time tensions are growing in the dispute over cooperation in the financial sector, threatening to deepen the rift between the two sides. Read more

BRUSSELS/BERLIN/LONDON (Own report) - The EU's serious failings in procurement of Covid-19 vaccines are dragging the Union into internal and external conflicts prior to today's summit. Tensions are growing between EU states, because poorer countries are being discriminated against in the distribution of the scarce supply of vaccines and are thus lagging behind in their vaccination programs. The fact that a growing number of EU member states, in addition to the protracted procurement at Union level, have begun to purchase Russian vaccines on a national level has caused further conflicts. Several allied countries are very upset because the EU has widened vaccine export controls and openly threatens to impose export bans. It was reported yesterday that the EU Commission had ordered the police to inspect an AstraZeneca vaccine filling plant in Italy, accusing the company of smuggling vaccines to the UK in a breach of contract. The accusation proved to be unfounded. According to insiders, the EU's maneuvers are already wasting precious time in global vaccine production. Read more

BERLIN/LONDON (Own report) - The controversy between the EU and Great Britain over access to Covid-19 vaccines is escalating. The persistent EU campaign against the vaccine by AstraZeneca (headquartered in Cambridge) has already provoked considerable anger in the UK. Brussels' threat to withhold future vaccine supplies from Great Britain is further exacerbating tensions. Recently, the EU ambassador to the UK was summoned to the Foreign Office by British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. Brussels, on the other hand, has launched legal proceedings against London over a breach of the Brexit deal's Northern Ireland Protocol. While political tensions are rising, economic ties are diminishing - apparently a long-term trend. Experts forecast that overall UK trade with the EU could fall by about a third by 2030. At the same time, the UK is rapidly expanding its economic ties to Asia - and plans to shift the focus of its foreign policy to the "Indo-Pacific." Read more