UK's defence overhaul puts focus on a ‘more lethal' Nato, highlights China, Russia threats
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government outlined a new defence strategy on Monday that aims to put a 'stronger, more lethal' Nato at the forefront of British defence plans as the country boosts its nuclear deterrent, rebuilds munitions and weapons stockpiles and invests billions of pounds into technologically advanced warfare methods.
Advertisement
The new
defence strategy warns that the threats the UK faces 'are more serious and less predictable than at any time since the Cold War'. Here's how the UK plans to shift from a long period of underinvestment and a peacetime mentality to become ready for war, as detailed in Monday's 140-page document.
Nuclear
The report recommends that Britain should begin discussions with the US and
Nato on the 'potential benefits and feasibility of enhanced UK participation in Nato's nuclear mission'. The government wants to achieve this by renewing its existing nuclear deterrent, investing £15 billion (US$20 billion) in its warhead programme, and exploring other means of deterring enemy use of nuclear weapons - which could include buying fighter jets capable of firing nuclear bombs.
The review is explicit in the need for Britain to play a greater role in nuclear deterrence, as the only European country to assign its nuclear capability to the defence of Nato – something that France does not currently do. The need for stepped-up UK action is driven by 'the unprecedented challenge' of the US facing two 'near-peer' nuclear powers in
Russia and China, the report said.
With Trident already absorbing much of the UK's defence expenditure, the policy is likely to be expensive. As well as the investment in nuclear warheads,
Britain plans to build as many as 12 new submarines.
Russia, China warnings
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
HKFP
an hour ago
- HKFP
US President Trump says deal with Chinese leader Xi ‘extremely hard' as steel tariffs double
Donald Trump said on Wednesday that it was 'extremely hard' to reach a deal with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but the EU touted progress in its own trade talks with Washington even though the US president doubled global metal tariffs. Trump's latest trade moves came as OECD ministers gathered in Paris to discuss the outlook for the world economy in light of a US hardball approach that has rattled world markets. Trump's sweeping tariffs on allies and adversaries have strained ties with trading partners and sparked a flurry of negotiations to avoid the duties. The White House has suggested the president will speak to Xi this week, raising hopes they can soothe tensions and speed up a trade deal between the world's two biggest economies. However, early Wednesday, Trump appeared to dampen hopes for a quick deal. 'I like President XI of China, always have, and always will, but he is VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH!!!' he posted on his Truth Social platform. Asked about the remarks during a regular press briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said: 'The Chinese side's principles and stance on developing Sino-US relations are consistent.' China was the main target of Trump's April tariff blitz, hit with levies of 145 percent on its goods and triggering tit-for-tat tariffs of 125 percent on US goods. Both sides agreed to temporarily de-escalate in May, after Trump delayed most sweeping measures on other countries until July 9. His latest remarks came hours after he increased his tariffs on aluminum and steel from 25 percent to 50 percent, raising temperatures with various partners while exempting Britain from the higher levy. EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic said after talks with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of the OECD meeting in Paris that raising the metal tariffs 'doesn't help the negotiations'. The two sides were nonetheless 'making progress' in their negotiations, Sefcovic said at a news conference. Goods from the 27-nation bloc will be hit with 50-percent tariffs on July 9 unless it reaches a deal with Washington. The EU has vowed to retaliate. 'We did very much focus on these negotiations, and I still believe in them,' Sefcovic said, adding that he was optimistic that a 'positive result' could be reached. Steel tariffs The OECD cut its forecast for global economic growth on Tuesday, blaming Trump's tariff blitz for the downgrade. 'We need to come up with negotiated solutions as quickly as possible, because time is running out,' German economy minister Katherina Reiche warned. French trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin said: 'We have to keep our cool and always show that the introduction of these tariffs is in no one's interest.' Canada, the largest supplier of the metals to the United States, has called Trump's tariffs 'illegal and unjustified'. After talks between UK Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds and Greer on Tuesday, London said imports from the UK would remain at 25 percent for now. Both sides needed to work out duties and quotas in line with the terms of a recently signed trade pact. 'We're pleased that as a result of our agreement with the US, UK steel will not be subject to these additional tariffs,' a British government spokesperson said. White House wants offers The Group of Seven advanced economies — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — was due to hold separate talks on trade Wednesday. Mexico will request an exemption from the higher tariff, Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said, arguing that it was unfair because the United States exports more steel to its southern neighbour than it imports. 'It makes no sense to put a tariff on a product in which you have a surplus,' Ebrard said. Mexico is highly vulnerable to Trump's trade wars because 80 percent of its exports go to the United States, its main partner. While some of Trump's most sweeping levies face legal challenges, they have been allowed to remain in place for now as an appeals process takes place. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Tuesday that the Trump administration sent letters to governments pushing for offers by Wednesday as the July 9 deadline approached.
Asia Times
an hour ago
- Asia Times
Anwar's immunity bid fails in rule-of-law test for Malaysia
In a landmark June 4 ruling, Malaysia's High Court denied Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's controversial attempt to shield himself from civil proceedings by invoking a constitutional mechanism — a move critics say was a veiled attempt at political immunity. The court's rejection of Anwar's bid marks the beginning of a legal confrontation unprecedented in Malaysian history: a sitting prime minister now stands to defend himself in court while governing the nation. The decision arrives on the heels of a motion by Anwar's legal team seeking to refer eight constitutional questions to the Federal Court. These questions, according to the defense, pertained to the burdens placed on the Prime Minister's Office by an ongoing civil suit and were framed not as an immunity plea but as a request for a 'constitutional filter.' Yet the distinction was semantic at best. 'We are not claiming immunity,' Anwar's counsel asserted on June 3. 'We are simply seeking clarity to protect the executive's function.' But the subtext was clear: Anwar wanted out of the dock. The case in question — a civil suit filed by Muhammed Yusoff Rawther alleging sexual misconduct by Anwar — predates Anwar's premiership. The incident allegedly occurred in 2018, and Rawther filed the suit in 2020. Notably, Anwar did not attempt to strike out the suit at any point over the past three years. Only on May 23, 2025 — a staggering 912 days after he assumed office — did he pivot to constitutional arguments. Rawther's lawyer, Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali, minced no words in court. 'Why did the Prime Minister take 912 days to raise this issue?' he asked. 'If the matter truly affected his ability to discharge executive functions, he should have addressed it long ago.' Rafique also pointed out that Anwar's affidavit failed to provide any reason for the delay — a procedural omission that, in the eyes of many, exposed the real motivation behind the application. More damningly, Rafique invoked Article 8 of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees equal protection under the law. 'No man — not even the Prime Minister — can stand above that,' he said. 'Immunity, whether cloaked as a filter or wrapped in legalese, is still immunity.' Presiding Judge Roz Mawar Rozain dismissed all eight questions as 'untenable, abstract and speculative.' She ruled that the Federal Court need not be burdened with academic hypotheticals. The trial, she affirmed, will proceed as scheduled on June 16, and 20,000 ringgit (US$4,700) in legal costs were awarded to Rawther. Anwar's team immediately sought an urgent stay of the ruling, but it also was dismissed. They now have 30 days to file an appeal to the Court of Appeal, though the countdown to the trial has already begun. In her oral judgment, Roz Mawar made it clear: Articles 39, 40, and 43 of the Constitution — which Anwar's team cited to support their plea — contain no implicit or explicit provision for immunity. The Constitution, she emphasized, enshrines accountability, not executive insulation. Anwar's maneuver has drawn comparisons to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 2020 attempt to sidestep legal scrutiny. Facing multiple indictments, Netanyahu petitioned the Knesset for parliamentary immunity, claiming the charges were politically motivated. While Israel's system at least provides a legal pathway for such immunity via legislative vote, Malaysia's does not. Anwar's attempt to manufacture a similar buffer through the courts was both bold and, ultimately, unsuccessful. In both cases, the public response was the same: dismay at the spectacle of a sitting prime minister attempting to rewrite the rules mid-game. Anwar's critics say his move reeks of the same hubris — a desperate attempt to evade moral reckoning while cloaked in constitutional garb. For a man who once stood as the face of Reformasi, the optics are devastating. Here is Anwar — long celebrated as a martyr of political injustice, imprisoned under Mahathir Mohamad's authoritarian regime — now attempting to insulate himself from due process using the very levers of power he once opposed. This isn't Anwar's first brush with accusations of overreach. His 1999 conviction for abuse of power — widely seen as politically charged — is now being unearthed in conversations across social media and political circles alike. History, as they say, echoes. The parallel doesn't stop there. Like Thailand's Thaksin Shinawatra — another leader accused of self-enrichment and later pardoned — Anwar has blurred the lines between public service and political dynasty. His appointment of Thaksin as ASEAN adviser and his own daughter Nurul Izzah as Deputy President of the PKR have raised questions about nepotism and political insulation, further damaging his image as a reformer. Conversely, Rawther's credibility has only been strengthened by this legal victory. He has, for years, insisted that his pursuit of justice is not politically motivated. The June 4 ruling — which affirms the legitimacy of his claim and the court's commitment to due process — lends weight to that assertion. In a political landscape often defined by backroom deals and unaccountable elites, Rawther has emerged as a symbol of perseverance — a private citizen holding the nation's most powerful man to legal scrutiny. This verdict could well reshape how Malaysia is seen on the regional stage. As the country currently chairing ASEAN, the world is watching. The failure of Anwar's immunity gambit is a litmus test of Malaysia's democratic maturity. What signal would it have sent if a sitting Prime Minister could so easily erect a legal wall around himself? The judiciary, by rejecting this narrative, has reaffirmed Malaysia's commitment to constitutional supremacy and rule of law. In Rafique's words outside the court, 'This ruling ensures that in Malaysia, no executive, no prime Minister, no monarch can place himself above the people.' This episode will linger in the nation's political memory — not just for what it reveals about Anwar's instincts, but for what it says about the resilience of Malaysia's institutions. The prime minister now finds himself in uncharted territory: governing while on trial, a dual burden with no modern precedent in Malaysia. Anwar once said, 'Justice is the soul of governance.' It remains to be seen whether he will honor that creed — or be judged by it.
South China Morning Post
4 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
China and EU schedule crunch talks to resolve economic deadlock
China and the European Union have agreed to hold a new round of trade talks to pave the way for a high-level leaders' summit next month, but analysts said it remained to be seen whether the two sides could resolve the impasse in their bilateral economic relations. The talks were announced by the European Commission following a meeting between China's commerce minister, Wang Wentao, and EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic on the sidelines of a World Trade Organization event in Paris on Tuesday. They are expected to lay the groundwork for a high-level summit slated for late July in Beijing, where European leaders will meet with President Xi Jinping. 'The two sides held focused, candid and in-depth discussions on pressing and important issues related to China-EU economic and trade cooperation,' China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Wednesday. 'They also tasked their respective working teams to intensify efforts in preparing for this year's key bilateral agenda on the economic and trade front,' it added. Meanwhile, an EU spokesperson said on Tuesday that the bloc's 'overall objective remains to rebalance our trade and investment relationship with China and level the playing field'.
