Foreign Secretary David Cameron has slammed Sir Keir Starmer as “hopelessly naive” as the General Election rapidly approaches.
Lord Cameron, who was Conservative Prime Minister between 2010 and 2016, claimed the Labour leader could weaken Britain’s defences – and said the UK was under attack from an “axis of malign states”.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, he said: “Keir Starmer is in danger of weakening Britain’s position and weakening Britain’s defences.
“All in a way that’s completely unnecessary.”
Cameron said he had realised since his return to the cabinet in November last year that the world “is getting more dangerous”.
He added: “Labour is hopelessly naive about the dangerous world in which we’re living.
“If the next world war is fought between international lawyers, we’ll win hands down.
“But that’s not going to be the case, so you’ve got to make sure you strengthen your defences.
“You strengthen your intelligence and security. The last thing we need in Britain now is another liberal leftie lawyer running the country.”
Lord Cameron highlighted concerns about the country being threatened domestically by actions from nations including Russia, Iran and China.
He continued: “The consequences of this axis of malign states working together is threatening domestically, as well as internationally.
“We need to strengthen our alliances, spend more on defence, strengthen our security system, and invest in diplomacy, aid, development and military hardware and espionage for a much more dangerous world.”
Defending his position on UK security, Starmer said: “They have given me high-level sensitive briefings, so much do they trust us on national security.
“To now turn around and make this ridiculous claim just shows how desperate they have become going into this election.”
