Starmer’s torn himself away from supporting genocide to flog some missiles to India

£350 Million. That’s the benefit to the British war machine of a new missile deal with India. And the weapons for one former colony will be built in the capital of a current one: Belfast.

In a press release, the UK government said:

The contract is set to deliver UK-manufactured Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMM) built in Belfast to the Indian Army, delivering on the Government’s Plan for Change in another significant boost for the UK defence industry.

The contract for LLM’s will be fulfilled by Thales, a French firm linked to Israeli drone producer Elbit Systems UK.

Why is Starmer cosying up to India?

And what is the rationale? Well, it’s good because jobs, apparently;

It secures over 700 jobs in Northern Ireland as the air defence missiles and launchers due to be manufactured for the Indian Army are the same as those currently being manufactured in Belfast for Ukraine.

The relationship between the UK government, the death trade and even UK trade unions is synergistic. Earlier today, 8 October, we reported about the relationship between arms firms and Unite the Union.

Unite workers vote to strike at Leonardo – over pay, not complicity in genocide of course

How can @unitetheunion champion workers rights at home, while being complicit in genocide abroad via Leonardo? Sharon Graham seems unconcerned, writes @jjgjourno https://t.co/taIbMTJMSQ

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) October 9, 2025

The government added;

The deal paves the way for a broader complex weapons partnership between the UK and India, currently under negotiation between the two governments.

A new milestone has also been reached in the UK and India’s cooperation on electric-powered engines for naval ships as both countries signed the Implementing Arrangement to advance collaboration to the next stage, worth an initial £250M.

It appears to be entirely lost on these characters that more jobs aren’t a net boon to society if they’re producing weapons to kill people halfway across the world. It’s almost as though capitalist profit margins matter more than anything else.

Air defence deal

The deal is part of an effort to shape the British economy around war, while strengthening alliances. Labour’s 2025 Strategic Review recognises “the role that India plays” across a “a range of shared interests.” They added:

The February 2025 announcement of the UK-India Defence Partnership represents an important next step for bilateral defence cooperation, focusing on next-generation weapons in the critical area of air defence.

LLM’s are an air defence weapon. And, naturally, arms firms will make a solid profit from the new deal.

Those “shared interests” are a continued commitment to murdering brown people at the other end of the globe, whilst sharing a tidy profit.

Featured image via the Canary