Starmer vows British MPs would get vote on sending troops to Ukraine

LONDON — Keir Starmer confirmed on Wednesday that members of parliament would vote on whether to deploy British troops to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.

The coalition of the willing signed a declaration of intent on Tuesday evening, which would mean British and French troops being sent to Ukraine if a peace deal were reached.

“Were troops to be deployed under the declaration signed, I would put that matter to the House for a vote,” Starmer told MPs at prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons.

The PM added he would put the question of legal deployment “to this house for a debate beforehand and for a vote on that deployment. That is consistent with recent practice, and I’ll adhere to that.”

Committing troops to war rests in the hands of the prime minister, but there is a precedent to seek approval from MPs. Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair won support from MPs to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

“There would only be deployment after a ceasefire,” Starmer insisted. “It would be to support Ukraine’s capabilities, it would be conduct deterrence operations and to construct and protect military hubs.”

He said the debate would mean “all members could know exactly what we’re doing [and] make their points of view,” and a vote was “the proper procedure in a situation such as this.”

Starmer’s spokesperson last year refused to explicitly confirm MPs would have a vote on deployment, stating that would be “getting ahead of ourselves.”