PEACE campaigners condemned an online meeting by a Labour Party group which encouraged the armed forces to “break the rules” in order to wage war more effectively.

On Tuesday Labour Friends of the Forces (LFF) heard from former naval officer Peter Roberts, now the director of military sciences at an arms-industry-funded think tank.

Asked to give examples of what rules should be broken, Mr Roberts suggested that British forces should be able to fight in the Arctic to challenge Russian power and use cyber-warfare to disrupt civilian comms in Pyongyang if war were to break out with North Korea.

Asked about the need for foreign policy not to appear aggressive, he said: “I’m pretty content with aggression.”

Mr Roberts concluded by saying: “The Labour Party is the natural friend of the armed forces. I'm really looking forward to the re-emergence of the Labour Party with this mandate.”

Peace Pledge Union campaigns manager Symon Hill, who attended the online event, said Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has “vital questions to answer,” including whether he supports Mr Robert’s comments and if he would reconsider his praise for LFF.

Mr Symon said: “Peter Roberts is right about one thing: obeying rules doesn’t make war ethical.

“The best response to this is to challenge war and militarism, not to back greater aggression. 

“The rules that we want to see armed forces personnel breaking are the rules that require them to obey orders to wage war. 

“Fortunately there are other people in the Labour Party, and other parties, who resist war rather than promote it.”