英国国防大臣韦斯·斯特里廷周一将英美关系描述为“世界上任何两个国家之间最紧密的联盟”。他在利物浦举行的工党大会上发表了这番讲话；此前一天，英格兰西南部格洛斯特郡的英国皇家空军费尔福德基地曾遭遇一起疑似恐怖袭击。
UK Defense Secretary Wes Streeting on Monday described the UK-US relationship as “the closest alliance of any two nations on earth.” He made the remarks at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, a day after a suspected terror plot targeting RAF Fairford, a UK military airbase in Gloucestershire, in southwestern England.
周日，在该基地附近的一个村庄发生了一起重大事件：警方逮捕了五名与爆炸物相关犯罪行为有关的嫌疑人，随后85户家庭被迫撤离。
A major incident was declared Sunday in a village near the base that hosts US Air Force operations, with 85 households evacuated after police arrested five men in connection with an investigation involving suspected offenses under the Explosives Act.
斯特里廷在大会上表示：“目前警方仍在调查中，我无法提供更多详细信息。”
“There is a live police investigation and I can’t provide much further detail than that which is reported,” Streeting told the conference.
“但我必须强调，我们与美国的友谊是世界上最紧密的联盟。我们将始终团结一致，共同对抗那些憎恨我们的自由、企图伤害我们的人。”他还赞扬了英国的安全机构、武装部队和警方的应对措施。
“But I do want to say that our friendship with America is the closest alliance of any two nations on earth, and we will always stand together against those who hate our freedom and those who wish us harm.” He praised British security services, armed forces and police for their response to the incident.
关于潜艇基础设施建设合同，斯特里廷还宣布了一项价值60亿英镑（约合80亿美元）的合同，用于建造英国核潜艇的码头设施，并称这是“这一代人以来最重要的国防采购决策”。他说：“当英国国内有100万年轻人失业时，国防部门却从国外招聘数千名工人，这既没有经济上的合理性，也没有道德上的正当性。”
$8B submarine infrastructure contract Streeting also announced a £6 billion ($8 billion) contract to build docks for Britain’s nuclear submarines, describing it as “one of the biggest defense procurement decisions in a generation.” “There is neither an economic nor a moral justification for Britain’s defense sector hiring thousands of workers from abroad when we have one million young people out of work here at home,” he said.
“不过，解决这个问题仅靠言语是不够的，需要采取果断的行动。因此，今天我和财政大臣共同做出了这一代人以来最重要的国防采购决策——这项价值60亿英镑的合同将确保这些码头设施建在英国境内，从而为数千名英国人创造长期的工作机会。”
“But solving that problem needs more than words; it demands bold action, and that’s why today the chancellor and I are taking one of the biggest defense procurement decisions in a generation: the contract to build the docks for our nuclear subs, our ultimate deterrent, £6 billion worth of work,” he noted. “Today, we commit to that contract staying in this country, supporting thousands of British jobs for years,” he said.
“增加国防开支必然会带来各种选择与权衡，”斯特里廷警告说。在关于增加军费开支对英国经济和公共服务影响的争论中，更高的国防开支意味着需要做出艰难的决策。“我知道，增加国防开支确实会带来各种选择与权衡，”他说。
'Spending on defense comes with choices and trade-offs' Streeting warned that higher defense spending would involve difficult choices, amid debate over the impact of increased military expenditure on the UK economy and public services. “I know that more spending on defense comes with choices and trade-offs,” he said.
“但我们的右翼批评者必须明白：让民众变得更贫穷并不能让国家变得更强大。”
“But our critics on the right need to understand that you don’t make your country stronger by making our people poorer.”
在回应左翼批评者时，他补充道：“我也必须直接对一些左翼批评者说：你们通过反对国防投资，实际上是在损害我们的公共服务。”
Addressing critics on the left, he added: “And I also have to say directly to some of our critics on the left: you are not defending our public services by attacking investment in our national defenses.”