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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Rafael Behr

In a frightening new era, Starmer has made his move – and may have found his calling

Keir Starmer stands amid a crowd of soldiers with an RAF plane behind him.
Keir Starmer speaks to soldiers at the RAF base in Akrotiri, Cyprus, 10 December 2024. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/Reuters

British politics is having one of its periodic outbreaks of polarised consensus. This is the paradoxical condition that occurs from time to time when the ruling party and the official opposition are forced by circumstance to have the same policy, while compelled by traditional enmity to resent the convergence.

The pressure on Keir Starmer to raise defence spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product has been building steadily in recent months, and independently of Tory demands that he do it.

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