President Joe Biden made a disastrous decision to pull his remaining forces out of Afghanistan overnight, abandoning plenty of weapons and ammunition.He let down allies including the UK with troops stranded there without the US support they relied on. Afghanistan predictably fell to the Taliban that we and the US had fought for many years to prevent.
Biden then responded to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine by encouraging Ukraine to fight. He restricted the types of weapons he would supply, told the Ukrainians not to use them over the Russian border and told NATO allies to follow similar rules. He made it quite clear NATO would stay out of the war as Ukraine is not a member.
There was no majority in the UK either to want us as members of NATO to commit our troops to Ukrainian battles. Accepting the Biden doctrine the UK signed up to a cruelty towards Ukraine. There would be enough weapons and money for them to stay in the fight but not enough for them to win.With others we encouraged plenty of Ukrainians to leave their homeland, offering refuge here.
President Trump says this policy was wrong. He tells Ukraine to accept a peace deal. Ukraine and the EU disagree, presumably thinking they can reverse some or all of the losses of the last three years. This has just got more difficult without US support.
If President Trump cancels future gifts of weapons and money the EU will have immediately to more than double its current contribution of both just to keep Ukraine where it currently is. It will need to go considerably further to give Ukraine an advantage over Russia. France talks tough but does not give anything like enough weaponry and money. Germany and Poland oppose even the idea of their troops being part of a peace keeping force.
The UK needs to rebuild home defences and build the factories, blast furnaces, petrochemical works, shipyards and vehicle factories it needs to re arm. The UK cannot replace a large portion of lost US support as it lacks the industry and the cash. The UK should not offer troops to police any new Ukraine border as our army us too small and it would lack US/NATO air cover.
If the EU cannot replace the US then it needs to promote a peace plan. It is the EU’s task as the EU wants Ukraine as a member, pushing its borders further east.
March 2, 2025
Zelensky’s terms for peace is his ‘Victory Plan’ – i.e he wants Russia to surrender.
Trump said ‘he was making Zelensky strong’ so he could negotiate peace – he said ‘you are not winning’ but he meant ‘you are losing’. Trump has done his best.
The EU and Starmer thought they could trick Trump into fighting Russia on Zelensky’s behalf so that he could win. This is ‘the third world war’ that Trump will not fight.
So Reeves heroically stole private Russian money to give to Ukraine, because ‘she is clear Russia must pay’. Independent bodies confirm the USA has given approximately USD 350 billion. Not all for the war – much of it pays for the maintenance of the State – salaries etc. so Reeves will have to steal a lot more. What happened to ‘following the rules’?
Reeves has trashed the City, the last vestige of our economy.
When Trump asked Starmer whether the U.K. could fight Russia on it’s own, even Starmer had to admit we can’t.
What is this government doing? They are danger to our existence. The King is an integral part of this idiocy.
March 2, 2025
All good points john except Britain must build factories shipyards etc
Have you not been watching over the past 15 years how we have surrendered all our manufacturing to China. We have Aircraft Carriers that can only accommodate American F35s and the new Tempest programme is looking shaky as 2TK pivots towards buying Franco German rubbish.
Next zero rules which precludes having any manufacturing in this country because it produces plant food
We have no chance of defending ourselves because all the money has gone on welfare.
Reply Try reading my blog! I have constantly campaigned for more industrial capacity and told the UK military establishment you cannot fight a war dependent on imports of weapons.
March 2, 2025
I always read your blog john, my point is you’re a voice in the wilderness. We all know what should be done except the brainless morons in government.
After we are beaten saying I told you so won’t matter. All the great and good will have fled the country.
March 2, 2025
Indeed the brainless idiots in this government and the brainless Con-socialist ones we have suffered under Cameron, May, Boris, Sunak for 14 years.
We must grill baby drill and ditch net zero now – this even to have any chance of a decent defence and decent economy even Kemi is idiotically still her digging her net zero hole but perhaps she is no able to see what an insanity net zero is. She claims to be engineer but alas one with even more duff A levels than Starmer, no Physics or Further Maths at all and only a D basic maths.
March 2, 2025
drill!
March 2, 2025
Ian, you have a good point. It’s all very well talking about rebuilding blast furnaces, metalworks, shipyards etc., but do we still have the skilled workforce to operate them? After decades of de-industrialisation favouring services, and especially the finance industry, I think we would have to devote a lot of resources to reskilling a significant portion of the population. I get the impression the British workforce has increasingly become one of shopfloor staff, delivery drivers and bike riders, middle managers and local authority bureaucrats (WFH). We should devote an extra percentage or two of our GDP to training the necessary people first, never mind buying more American weapons.
March 3, 2025
That’s if they can attract the people who are ‘fighters’. So many modern Millenials and Generation Y (born 1980 to 2000) are pacifists with the woke values wanted by the State; they got so much praise and so little stick they are now unsatisfied and unhappy. We are told by the MSN they often suffer from mental health complaints resulting in being unable to work, let alone join the military. When they do work they’ve been conditioned to expect more work/life balance, the ability to switch off and more time off.
Testosterone-fuelled people are condemned as ‘far-right’ too macho and intolerant.
They are optimistic, lets hope they see a way out of this war. Because it is them that the elites want to serve national service, volunteer themselves as peacekeepers.
March 2, 2025
Yes you have and just maybe the current situation will force them to do something about it
March 2, 2025
Good point about us stealing the Russian’s money. At some point they might demand it back, or pay us back in kind.
March 2, 2025
I don’t mean to sound harsh but people who make comments like this and encourage this in others will be doing their small bit to add more instability to Europe and giving a free hand to Putin to wreck havoc on Ukraine and then Europe and our economy which will eventually great affect USA as well.
So please grow up – and get a life. At least on this issue (not saying you’re like this in general).
Best.
March 2, 2025
The grown-ups are working on this, Ed, trying to get a peace deal. The juveniles try to keep the warfighting going by gesticulating against Putin and claiming he’s going to invade Europe and wreck our economy. As if it wasn’t the sanctions that were already damaging Western economies by forcing up energy prices.
March 3, 2025
Sorry, I meant Trump is an old man. He’s 78.
March 2, 2025
Ed, you need to understand that there are many billions of western money invested in Russia. Russia has neither ‘seized’ or ‘frozen’ any of it.
But support Thieves if you think that helps the U.K. we now know what you are.
March 2, 2025
Ie. You are a liability!
March 2, 2025
So I’m happy to take back my comment (or part of it). I see why we shouldn’t seize Russian assets (for now at least). Russia will have to pay reparations to Ukraine in the future to help rebuild Ukraine and make it safe (but not crippling either – remember WW1 leading to WW2).
March 3, 2025
That’s wrong-Russia has taken under ‘temporary state management control’ significant western corporate assets.Tit-for-tat!
March 3, 2025
Mitchel, that’s interesting; which British corporate assets has Russia taken under this ‘temporary state management control’?
March 2, 2025
As many here have called for over the years as well as our host, we need to be able to defend, feed and power ourselves in times of emergency. At present we cannot. The item in Fred Kite’s resent speech that struck me was he wants to see our economy ‘re-industrialise’. Nobody has questioned him on this; what does he mean, who is going to do, guide it and how? This runs completely counter to all government policies, particularly Labour, over the last 15 years.
Any ideas? My first fear is that Fred is planning ‘government owned factories’, but who knows?
March 2, 2025
Ukraine might have an out-Trump card. If the US is willing to pay a reported $1 trillion or just 500 billion to Ukraine for its Rare Earth deal, what Ukraine has is in very strong demand. They could offer those assets to other purchasers. Even at a discount, that would enable Ukraine to buy more weaponry than the US provides.
Peter Sellers as Fred Kite in I’m All Right Jack was brilliantly performed, but Two Way Stretch was far better.
March 2, 2025
Zelensky doesn’t need Russia to surrender, just return to their borders and end the fighting. Ukraine will not pursue Russia into their own land.
Any Russian money in the UK is forfeit because of their aggression.
Russia is the danger to our existence, all the time it has a madman in the Kremlin threatening the free world with nuclear weapons.
Ukraine is helping the UK by degrading a common enemy. We should be grateful and give them all the support we can. After all, it’s their blood that’s being spilt, not ours.
March 2, 2025
As you say, Dave, it’s their blood that’s being spilt, not ours. You want to change that? I thought not.
March 2, 2025
Zelensky has invaded Russia and targets it all the time – Krasnodar is a favourite.
You want Russia to abandon the Russians on their ancient lands that Zelensky killed – some 14,000, after they voted in internationally scrutinised elections to rejoin Russia? He cut the water supply off to Crimea which is exclusively occupied by Russians – that’s a war crime.
Anyway you tell Zelensky that he does not need Russia to surrender – how do you think the EU is going to break Russia into 12 constituent parts each with its own flag (under the EU) unless they cause Russia to surrender?
March 2, 2025
I had this same anxiety when the last lot confiscated Russian money and property. Who is going to invest here now? We always used to hear the establishment lauding “our rule of law” as a great attraction to rich foreigners.
March 2, 2025
The UK should not get involved in the Ukraine conflict. We have no national interest at stake. Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries, so financial aid often disappears.
However, Starmer and other European leaders will be pushed by the big global arms manufacturers to continue the war and boost their profits.
March 2, 2025
Quite right, Peter. Perched on that beautiful yellow damask, Zelensky had the sulky, surly look of an enfant terrible who has been said NO to for the first time. He is used to going round the world bullying countries into giving him money and weapons. Europe is more or less demilitarised now. Next, he wants full on war between America and Russia. But the grown ups have said No. If only those feckless Europeans were grown up. Instead, they and their fake news have stirred up an hysterical, paranoid spectacle of disarray in which they are trying to break NATO on behalf of the Eurocrats and pretend the C in C of NATO is the enemy.
March 2, 2025
They are selling arms @20c in the Dollar. Stuff turning up in the Middle East and Mexico. Watch out for it in London! When the Vice-President of the USA says this stuff, you know that he has evidence!
BTW many people calculate that the actual amount of money expended by the USA is 3 x the amount of USD 350 billion stated by President Trump.
March 2, 2025
And there are the weapons left behind by Biden in Afghanistan which found their way to all sorts of unsavoury customers.
March 2, 2025
This is Russian propaganda.
March 2, 2025
Russia is too busy to bother with propaganda. They don’t give two shakes what the Europeans ‘think’ or even if they ‘think’.
March 2, 2025
America, like Britain, has a treaty obligation to guarantee Ukraine’s independence. The world now learns what America’s word is worth.
As our own promise turns out to be beyond our power to keep, the world will also learn what value to place on Britain’s word.
March 3, 2025
And Trump is trying to negotiate an end to the war so that Ukraine is independent.
Of course, “independent” doesn’t mean “in NATO and under the control of the EU.” Switzerland is independent and neutral; it is not in NATO.
March 2, 2025
“not enough (weapons) for them to win..” Ukraine was never going to win, no matter how many weapons were supplied.
Ukraine has been used by Neocons as a proxy to fight Russia, weaken it… and allow it to be plundered as happened under Yeltsin. The Russian leadership won’t allow that to happen.
The war could have been prevented by confirming Ukraine would never be a NATO member but Biden, and “Europe” wouldn’t do that.
Well the USA has more pressing problems than a war in Europe and is “pivoting” to deal with those.
Europe hasn’t the wherewithal to fight Russia and would be foolish to try but will undoubtedly express “support” for Ukraine…and hopefully do nothing.
Britain should stay well clear of this catastrophic mess…but won’t because our rulers, of all parties, like to strut the world stage in the delusion that Britain is a power of consequence. It isn’t and the pretence that is can only end badly for the British people.
March 2, 2025
+1. I hope to goodness Starmer doesn’t throw more of our money away to Ukraine. Once there’s peace we should insist the “refugees” go home…use our money for that, if needs be.
March 2, 2025
Too late. Two-Tier’s already done it. Funny how the “black hole” means we can’t afford anything beneficial for the British people, but it doesn’t prevent him from shovelling money to every foreign country which holds out a begging bowl.
March 2, 2025
Yeah, labour have stopped talking about that ‘black-hole’
March 2, 2025
Too late, he’s done it. But what’s £2bn among friends?
March 2, 2025
Ukraine doesn’t need to win, they only need to hold the line until there’s a change in Moscow. With luck, perhaps someone will put a bullet through Putin’s brain. Rather him than another Ukrainian.
March 2, 2025
Why do you think another leader will have a different idea on NATO and the EU?
March 2, 2025
😂🤣 you have never been to Moscow have you? The Russians LOVE their President as much as the American now love theirs.
I remember that feeling – I remember being proud when Mrs Thatcher took to the stage.
March 2, 2025
They have no choice but to devote themselves to Putin. Any challenger falls out of a high window.
In terms of popularity, Zelensky scores well above Trump.
March 2, 2025
Mick C. Yes to all 5. Especially 2nd point.
All this support one must wonder why? EU/UK far left and too comfortable where elections are suspended.
Who benefits? Not the people of Russia or Ukraine or people of the world generally.
Russia has had to disengage with the West economically not by choice. Moving closer to other blocs, which may or may not be friendly.
Russia is serious about its security and border areas.
The UK is not serious about security or the UK border so there must be other globalist reasons.
March 2, 2025
They are so comfortable – the Defenders of Freedom and Democrcy, about voiding a free and fair election in Romania then arresting the winner when he is en route to register for the rerun.
Look at the leaders of Europe and be honest with yourself. Who are these people?
March 2, 2025
Kremlin has announced that is is willing to become a mediator in Peace negotiations between Ukraine and the USA.
😂🤣
March 2, 2025
Why should not “Germany and Poland oppose even the idea of their troops being part of a peace keeping force” when the inept one, soft and foolish, seems desperate to offer British troops for such a hostage mission?
Concerning Biden, certainly “He let down allies including the UK with troops stranded there” but we triumphed, did we not, evacuating to come and settle here Afghan “interpreters” in numbers four or five times those of the troops we had in that theatre.
And yes, “Afghanistan predictably fell to the Taliban that we and the US had fought for many years to prevent” but recall per Prime Minister Brown, the reason we were there at all was to make the streets at home safe.
Reply My concern is the UK . The EU needs to help Ukraine if they want to prolong the war.
March 2, 2025
Reply to reply: But Sir John, you surely must have noticed how the current government is more and more cosying up to Brussels, to make Brexit vanish. If the EU does get involved in a fighting war with Russia, what could be better to abandon Brexit, with the ever so useful cry of ‘shoulder-to-shoulder with our European friends’.
March 2, 2025
@reply – is the Ukraine even the UK’s War? The UK doesn’t have the manpower and resources to defend and support its self without putting our brave people in harms way.
Then they have the added bonus if we put men into Ukraine and they attempt to defend just themselves on their return to the UK they will be hauled into the UK Courts by the Human Rights fraternity and persecuted with full support of Government and Parliament. All the while the Parliament that ordered, sanctioned and are in control of the persecutions Laws get to walk around pat themselves on the back. That’s a bit backwards
REPLY I am saying no UK troops for Ukraine
Welcome to two tier UK.
March 2, 2025
My concern is also the U.K.
Russia says that if our troops enter Ukraine they will be treated as combatants. i.e they will be killed!
March 2, 2025
Today an Iscander hit a grouping of 150 Ukrainians and 30 foreign ‘trainers’.
March 2, 2025
Let us recall that in WW2 both the UK and Stalin’s Russia achieved what they wanted, in the one case victory, in the other most of Eastern Europe.
Now we see in Ukraine, the USA is on the threshold of obtaining a $500 billion profit deal for minerals (rare earths) whilst Starmer seems keen on giving British military commitments and getting peace in return. Parliament is too full of fools to stop him but what about the Court of Session?
March 3, 2025
Ukraine has no viable rare earth deposits -it does have other,less exciting saleable commodities.
March 2, 2025
The reality for all the parties is exhaustion of resources: cash, weapons, ammunition, manpower. That is why all the parties need time to recover, take stock of the battlefield lessons and rearm. There is no obvious reconciliation between the opposing positions taken by Russia and Ukraine over the future of Ukraine. Each perceive existential threats from the others presence. There is zero trust. The chances of a resumption of conflict after a ceasefire are high. Trump’s approach is a recognition of these realities. Probably the best that can be hoped for is a Korean style resolution along the line of conflict.
The choices ahead are either get back on track to see if the Trump initiative gets anywhere with Russia or Europe tries to go it alone in the belief it can wear Russia down – I doubt that is feasible. Europe needs time to get its defences in place.
March 2, 2025
I like your conclusion: we need to stay out of it.
I agree with some here that Ukraine could not have “won”, whatever weaponry they got. The incredible press briefing at the White House a few days ago shows that Zelensky is finished, regime change will come: to Ukraine, not Russia.
The EU will get its fingers burned if it continues to interfere. That’s great, but my only worry is if it exacerbates the whole security situation and ignites warfare in Georgia, Republika Srpska and elsewhere in the Russian orbit. I don’t see Russia as a threat to the EU, nor a destabilising force. But I do think the globalist, expansionist EU is a threat to stability in the European fringes.
March 2, 2025
Yes, that is where the problem lies. The EU is a failed project and to divert attention from the collapse – anything!
March 3, 2025
The EU was an American project that has now-apparently-been abandoned by its sponsor.
March 2, 2025
Only goes to show the Americans cannot be relied upon to do the right thing. It was Trump who made the deal with the Takiban about getting out of Afghanistan and it wa made behind the backs of the Afghan government just before Trump left office but it was Biden who crashed it. Next thing there are more countries in Europe besides the EU and so all European countries are now going to have to put shoulder to the wheel if Russia is to be deterred – seems to me like a new alignment in the making – lastly Trump can forget about the rare earth minerals now as they will probably end up with Putins Russia come the peace settlement.
March 2, 2025
James the minerals etc 80% of Ukraine wealth is in Donbas. It’s already with Russia. Putin says he will sell to the USA. The deal was not to recover money but to give Ukraine some strength to get a peace settlement.
But Zelenski/Starmer want US boots on the ground I.e WWIII.
March 3, 2025
The key minerals the US needs are elsewhere in Russia-in Siberia,the Arctic and the Russian Far East.
March 2, 2025
“The UK needs to rebuild home defences and build the factories, blast furnaces, petrochemical works, shipyards and vehicle factories it needs to re arm”
If Starmer and Milliband read this they will have an attack of the vapours. Net zero, phantom Climate change, co2, all trump (no pun intended) this.
March 2, 2025
“Accepting the Biden doctrine the UK signed up to a cruelty towards Ukraine. There would be enough weapons and money for them to stay in the fight but not enough for them to win.”
Precisely. Zelensky has been given just enough support to keep the war going and I suspect that was deliberate. Biden’s Controllers knew that Russia couldn’t be beaten and any serious attempt to do so would result in WW3. So they had a strategy of attrition to keep the war going and damage Russia’s economically and militarily, in the hope that Putin would lose support and be dispensed with. The strategy has failed.
Without US support and munitions Ukraine cannot continue fighting. The UK, and most definitely the EU, do not have the munitions, armies, money, desire or solidarity to “take on Russia.” They talk tough, but have no stick.
So there has to be a negotiated settlement of the war. And that’s what Trump is trying to achieve and Zelensky, with the encouragement of Macron, Two-Tier and others in Europe are trying to stymie. The European Establishments want the war of attrition to continue … and thousands more to be killed to try and gain a bit more advantage …. just as they did in WW1. And then the hypocrites stand at the Cenotaph to “honour” the men they pointlessly had killed.
March 2, 2025
Russia won’t accept ANY NATO forces as peace keepers. Why aren’t the UN involved ?
March 2, 2025
The UN can’t cope with the war in The Congo. It’s 3rd world and powerless too.
March 2, 2025
And the UN can’t keep Hezbollah back behind the Litani River in Lebanon either. Decades of failure and weakness there.
March 2, 2025
If rearmament is the need of the moment then before we rebuild those industries you mention steel production aluminium smelting petrochemical production and engineering of every sort from cars to transporters to ships and aircraft, there is one industry that must be put in place first and fremost.
The energy industry.
We must drill for oil pump natural gas and invest in urgent small micro nuclear that can re-establish the security of domestic electricity, without relying on extension leads plugged into mainland Europe.
The legislation that must be enacted before any of that can be started is the repeal of the Climate Change Act 2008 along with its appended Net Zero clauses.
I can not see any of that happening during the current governments time in office.
March 2, 2025
Exactly – this was an attack on Russia, an act of attrition to drain Russia of men and resources, to weaken it. Russia may have been the invading force but they didn’t start the war.
Europe and the UK are bust, where do the warmongers imagine the huge amount of extra cash will come from?
The efforts by UK and EU leaders to prolong the war when it is already lost tell us that there is a lie behind the whole subject that they are not talking about.
Zelenskyy was treated like royalty by the Biden administration, so it must have come as a shock when Trump refused his requests for more support. It’s time he retired to that promised safe home in France.
March 2, 2025
Oh our King has treated Zelensky like Royalty, and invitation to Sandringham.
Don’t be surprised if The President of the USA is too busy to visit.
March 2, 2025
We have been here before and as you say France talking tough and Germany and others not wanting to involve their troops but the UK political class, as usual, cant wait to spend money,which we dont have and involve troops which we also don’t have in numbers. This is a European problem so leave the Europeans to deal with it.
March 2, 2025
The greens on Bristol City Council have turned parts of the city into 15 minute cities — Here they come!
March 2, 2025
This war was avoidable. Europe and UK act as vassals to America and have failed to adequately contribute to NATO. This subservience has not served the interests of the people of Europe or UK. Just look at our economies? I strongly recommend everyone watches and listens carefully to Professor Jeffrey Sachs address to the UN last week. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers have died unnecessarily because of America’s insane political ideology. It’s taken President Trump the political disruptor to call for peace and to stop the killing. What have the Diplomats been doing these past two decades?
March 2, 2025
Agreed, Michael. I to watched and listened to Prof. Jeffrey Sachs.
It was an absolute eye opener and definately a must watch YT video. If I’m not mistaken, he was speaking at The Geopolitics of Peace event held at the EU Parliament last month on February 19.
R
March 2, 2025
We’ve been on this slippery slope for many years Sir John.
The only way out of this that I can see is a total industrial reset. This might well happen (the extremely hard way) if things kick off in the South China Seas. Just image all that stuff that normally arrives by the mega-ton each week, just stopped. No more cheap clothes, white goods, furniture, cars, TVs. What would we do?
We also need to go back and repeal a lot of the legislation that is causing so many problems for us as a Nation, at least if we wish to remain a coherent one. Let’s go back and purge all the Human Rights, Net Zero, Supreme Court etc nonsense dumped on us by Blair and his fellow travellers like the dreadful Teresa May. Perhaps people will finally wake up and see what mess we are in now that times are more dangerous but somhow I doubt it.
Stop trying to solve the World’s problems and realise that we are in a very bad way here at home. I don’t need (or want) UK to be a world power (we are not) but we could be a quietly successful one with a hand brake change to our priorities.
March 2, 2025
This is essentially a quarrel between Russia and the Ukraine, and not a war between Russia and the West. As usual, the EU could not throw up an opportunity to interfere, and the UK was delighted to be part of the fun.The idea that the Ukraine could defeat Russia without major outside help, including huge manpower, which is where Russia has the clear advantage, was always unrealistic. All the West could ever achieve was to prolong the suffering, which is what it has done.
Trump is entirely right to try to bring the disaster to a close, and I am sure the drama in the oval office was very carefully choreographed, to make it clear to the Europeans that this was their affair, if they wanted it to continue.
All Starmer can think of to do, is to send more precious funds to Ukraine which would be much better spent on our own defences. If they can be afforded for Ukraine, why not for us?
March 2, 2025
A simple question William. Is Europe (not the EU) willing (or able) to fill the gap if the US pulls back?
This would mean at least doubling what they are currently giving each year, for Ukraine to (at best) just stand still. It seems that France, Spain and Italy are already having doubts about funding this. We have these people distraught at Trumps treatment of Zelenskyy but what are they really willing to do about it? The hard fact is that the UK (and Europe) are in no position to do anything without making some extremely difficult choices. UK/Europe could make those choices but frankly will not. Perhaps all these unhappy people should be directing their ire at the political classes that allowed national security to become so down their priorities that Russia is a threat to us again. That is the real scandel. If you don’t like what others do, then better make damn sure you are not entirely dependent on them.
Portillo also made a very good point this morning. There is no point in pouring more money into UK defence, if we don’t spend it well. The UK, France and Germany together spend $350B pa on defence versus Russia’s $184B. I was quite suprised to see that Germany (apparently) spends $130B pa (that’s a lot of hairnets and broomsticks) more than either France or UK. I was also shocked to read recently that a single 155mm artillery shell costs the MoD well over £3000. Let’s say we give Ukraine another 2,000 shells per day (Russia is firing 10,000). That’s another £6M pd or £2.2B pa we’d have to find just to feed the big guns. Maybe we could give them Trebuchet instead. The MoD might then find them enough rocks to sling….
March 2, 2025
I feel less safe now than I did during the Cold War. We have a ruling elite who are destroying our industry with Net Zero and social cohesion by refusing to protect our borders with any excuse they can find. This is now so serious it can no longer be seen as incompetence.
March 2, 2025
Defending our own people is most important. Having powerful capacity to oppose evil in other lands to protect their good folk is also important, but secondary.
March 2, 2025
Yes, air defences would seem to be very high on the list unless we are happy to see drones falling on our cities again. It wasn’t that long ago we last had flying bombs falling on us. My Mum used to tell me about sheltering under the kitchen table when the sirens went off. I can still remember playing on bomb sites as a boy.
People forget.
March 2, 2025
‘People forget’. Good.
March 2, 2025
Forgetting is good if it prevents tit-for-tat grudges continuing in conflict and wars.
Forgetting is bad if what you learn to protect you from scratch has to be suffered to learn again with a deeper wound.
March 2, 2025
“without the US support they relied on”
Isn’t the problem? Relying on others when we are big & competent enough to be resilient and self-reliant.
To me that is the root of all this Country’s woes this century. Our corrupt Parliament no longer serves the UK or its People, they have deliberately and seemingly maliciously sort to put the UK’s destiny at the whims and mercy of the unelected unaccountable in foreign lands. Think about it these adopted masters that parliament, it MPs, have put in charge have other interest, self interest but not UK interests upper most.
The above relates not just defense, but energy, industry and food. It never did and it doesn’t have to be that way.
There is a big, massive difference between cooperating with others and getting down on ‘one knee’ and handing the country to others.
March 2, 2025
I see a Conservative shadow minister, Mrs Kearns, has called for Trump’s state visit to be cancelled. Can one imagine a more foolish gesture of performative virtue signalling? This is exactly what David Lammy would have done had he still been in opposition, or siddiq khan, were there still a Tory govt.
March 2, 2025
Proof, if any was needed, that the Conservatives have not ‘Moved on’ by any measure at all, under the new leadership.
March 2, 2025
Is she our Victoria Nuland?
March 2, 2025
My self and many others want to lay the UK’s woes at the doors of the Government. We should never forget there are 650 MPs, those that are not in Government are in Parliament to safe-guard the UK and its Peoples interest by ‘holding it to account’. The Government couldn’t push if the majority of MPs didn’t support its direction.
This Century there has been no alternative, no opposition to the way the UK Government is pushing us, they all seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet. The bulk of our MPs refuse to serve their electorate and the Country, they fail at their first duty
Then again I’m becoming a bit repetitive on this theme. But every challenge thrown at the country and its people comes back to having the same culprit, unmovable personal self-interest. How can we suggest ways forward to solve things, help us prosper and move forward when we have the same road block!
March 2, 2025
Change the road-block. Select your candidates freely and tell the Party Machines with their list to take a running jump.
They select all the wrong people. Your post proves this.
March 2, 2025
*applause* and no, it’s not just you.
March 2, 2025
Has the EU asked the people in Donbass and Crimea what they want ?
If the EU had the money it would continue the war to get Ukraine into the EU. The underlaying motive.
There is no way that Ukraine will get the Donbass and Crimea back if put to a vote.
The West, but thankfully not Trump now, knows this and focuses on Russia invading Ukraine and staring the war which of course is technically correct. But was Russian motivated to tray a stop a Civil War in Ukraine.
A bit better reason than the West invading Iraq base on the WMD lie
March 2, 2025
Russia legally intervened to stop a genocide. That is a right under the UN Charter.
March 2, 2025
JM: “If the EU had the money it would continue the war to get Ukraine into the EU. The underlaying motive”
No, the motive is to impoverish the EU members. Just like Net Zero.
March 2, 2025
No, the motive is to destroy Russia so German Europe can have a new host to inflict its parasitic lifestyle. It has sucked Europe dry you see.
March 3, 2025
No the motive was for American Europe to destroy Russia.All the key people in the EU are US trained Atlanticists,nothing to do with Germany.
March 2, 2025
In the media today. The end of NATO replaced with new ‘European Treaty Organisation’.
That is not the answer, that’s a cop out that Government, Parliament supported by the BLOB will try to spin.
The UK simply needs to be resilient and self-reliant at everything. The we can then cooperate from a position of strength not everyone else’s ‘cannon fodder’
March 2, 2025
If Sir John will permit, this body language analysis of the Zelensky / Trump Oval Office meeting is very interesting and gives insight into how/why it ended in a televised row and Zelensky being ejected from the White House. It’s quite long, but well worth watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLTvIEIPhiY
March 2, 2025
Thanks for link. Zelensky did himself no favours nor his cause. It seems he had no intention of signing the agreement that had been prepared and pre agreed at the official level in Ukraine and USA.
March 3, 2025
Zalenskyy learnt the first lesson if invited to a one- to- one meeting; don’t go alone.!
March 2, 2025
No one did more to help Putin THAN ANGELA MERKEL.
March 2, 2025
I wouldn’t say that – she was always denigrating Putin, telling him off for not being a part of the NWO
March 2, 2025
Dom:
Agreed.
March 3, 2025
She was helping Germany securing the cheap energy from Russia.
March 2, 2025
Why is the British government supporting someone who believes that Ukraine must recover all the lost territory which is now Russian and historically always was; Ukraine under its current borders is a Bolshevik construct with no ethnic basis created out of the Czarist empire. It was inevitable that it would break up especially following the Second World war in which Western Ukraine supported Stepan Bandera in his alignment with Germany and the Eastern Oblasts which remained under Soviet dominion and were subsequently subject to ethnic cleansing by the erstwhile Banderites with their suspiciously familiar insignia until Russia decided that politically it had no other option but to intervene militarily.
As with Afghanistan so with Ukraine, the British government involves itself in warmongering without any understanding of the history of the countries in which it meddles. We were driven out of Afghanistan and we should stay out of Ukraine whose destiny has no vital interest for us and nor can we use the standard foreign Office excuse which is that we simply follow the USA like a dog following its master into its every foreign adventure now that the USA has reappraised its priorities.
March 2, 2025
Sound advice and accurate analysis.
March 3, 2025
The Western parts came originally from the Austro-Hungarian Empire-the Habsburgs encouraged an element of ‘Ruthenian(Ukrainian)’ nationalism to counter the pan-slavic,pro-Russian movement of the mid to late 19th century.
The Banderites also massacred large numbers of ethnic Poles in western Ukraine-see the Volhyn massacres-after it was overrun by the Germans.
March 2, 2025
Trump did not propose a peace deal
In fact he proposed a business deal to make money from Ukraines rare earth minerals
Whether he could get Putin to stop attacking. Ukraine is very much undecided
March 2, 2025
+1
March 2, 2025
Russia would not have attacked USA citizens working in the mines. It was a security deal without soldiers. Predictably the fools of Europe and the delinquent Zelensky did not see it. Way over their heads.
March 3, 2025
The “business deal” is the first stage in negotiating the peace. The peace process will start with an agreed Ceasefire, which the “business deal” is part of.
March 2, 2025
68 criminals arrived in the UK yesterday; from the safe country of France ….as the UK hosts a Europe war summit !
March 2, 2025
GC :
They simply don’t care.
March 2, 2025
From the Media
“Britain must decide between a deal with Europe to cut border checks on goods or a free-trade agreement with the US, Brussels sources have warned.”
As it is said elsewhere ‘Why? The two aren’t related. Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Monaco all buy and sell what they want from and to whomsoever they want. ‘
The EU however wants full access to the UK’s EEZ and all its fish, and call the shots on UK World Trade. The EU wants to impose all its laws and controls on the UK, but not on others. Meanwhile the US just wants anything agreed to be reciprocal, no laws, no diktats.
Personally we need to be free to do what is necessary for the UK and its People, if things are reciprocated great, if they are not move on. The overriding consideration is resilient and self-reliance from that position all cooperation becomes mutual, no party ruled by the other.
March 2, 2025
They also want our bomb!
March 2, 2025
iim :
No, it’s not the EU that want these advantages, but our ruling elites.
March 2, 2025
These are disadvantages. Why does the British political class want the U.K. disadvantaged? Jealous of the billionaire Zelensky?
March 3, 2025
The USA offers us a Trade Deal. The EU makes threats.
Situation normal. But the British Establishment, including Two-Tier like bending over and taking it from the EU.
March 2, 2025
British troops could only enter Ukraine as peacekeepers if approved by the UN Security Council. Most likely that would be vetoed by Russia. Even Starmer isn’t mad enough to send our soldiers in to be cannon- or drone-fodder. Or if he is, I don’t think our army would accept it. So as you say, SJR, there will be no role for the British army in Ukraine. It would be far better employed patrolling our borders, which is what I always thought a country needs an army for.
March 2, 2025
EU and UK (OK, NATO then) should immediately start wargaming a takeover of Kaliningrad, Murmansk and Vladivostok (UK + Japan). There should be several versions in each case some of which are “allowed” to be leaked. There should be visible presence of our warships in the vicinity. This will make the Putain nervous and force him to divert assets to those locations. There should also be an invisible presence – i.e. submarines in the Baltic.
No need to worry about the Black Sea – Ukraine seems to be in command there.
Reply The UK should not go to war with Russia
March 2, 2025
Without the US, Robert? “Thank heavens for one good laugh today”, would be Putin’s response.
March 2, 2025
Ukraine in charge of the Black Sea! 🤪 you think Turkey would allow that? You think subs are invisible?
You are Kier Starmer and I claim my £5.00!
March 3, 2025
What warships? We’ve hardly got any. The days of sending a Destroyer to frighten the Natives have long gone. Britannia no longer Rules the Waves.
March 3, 2025
In command?Tell that to the occupants of a Panamanian-flagged,Swiss-owned merchant vessel(suspected of carrying war materials) that was hit by two Russian missiles in Odessa port at the weekend!
I also suggest you read what happened to Japan when they menaced Soviet territory in 1939(Battle of Khalkhin Gol) and the rout they suffered in 1945 Manchuria campaign.
Do you realise that Kaliningrad is heavily armed with missiles that can hit every continental NATO capital within a matter of minutes?
March 2, 2025
I think if we went back to the old tradition of kings or state leaders riding at the head of a nation’s army there would be less enthusiasm for war.
March 2, 2025
RP :
Very true.
March 2, 2025
Did you not notice the attitude of our King?
March 2, 2025
Unbelievable pronouncement’s(media glorification) from Starmer this afternoon. Does he believe the UK has the ability to put service personnel on the border to face off Russia? Does he believe Putin won’t see Starmer’s ‘nato light’ as not a threat against him? Does he believe that his actions will bring peace?
Or is it Starmer’s buddies, the human-rights sector of what they call Law that is destroying the very fabric of the UK that needs more work, more commissions and more money, they need to persecute more UK Troops for obeying Government orders and then defending themselves. After all it is Starmer’s Laws that is leading to malicious persecution and prosecutions. Starmer is the Law, he owns it along with his Government and Parliament. If that wasn’t true they would have changed things.
Cementing the TwoTier Walter Mitty World on us all, I am in it for ‘me’ and it is the minions that will ‘pay’. I will not create a better tomorrow for the UK and its People, I will fight them to create a better tomorrow for ‘me’ and my followers, the rest are just ‘cannon fodder’ £1.6billion may be spun as a loan, £9billion yearly payment for something we own maybe spun as defense spending, but how big does this ‘black-hole’ have to get before it swallows us all up.
March 2, 2025
Putin will not countenance NATO forces on Ukrainian soil. This will escalate. Perhaps even by a false flag (Azov) attack on NATO troops.
Let’s hear what Trump comes up with.
US civilians working in Ukrainian mineral extraction seems like a good one to me. The territory lost to Russia is lost for good. Does anyone think that Russia will be forced to surrender ?
March 2, 2025
I agree with everything you say apart from the false-flag. Putin has said that NATO troops in Ukraine will be viewed as combatants and they will be killed. I believe him.
March 2, 2025
It is getting harder by the day for Trump to come up with something because the sabotage of his peace initiative is very widespread. Mainly by recklessly irresponsible Europeans and their media, but I imagine quite a few of the Nuland tendency in America will be doing their bit.
March 3, 2025
Germany would not supply any armaments unless and until Zelensky signed over the future sovereignty of Ukraine to the EU in order to gain control of Ukraine’s critical minerals for Green Energy. This Faustian deal three days after the Russian invasion was blackmail. It woukd very hood to see Trimp deny this prize to the EU. It is civilised behaviour. Ukrainian blood for EU gain, typical EU.
March 3, 2025
Ps correction the EU’s behaviour is uncivilised
March 3, 2025
Dear Sir John
On another subject, one of your pet subjects: https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/europes-biggest-battery-storage-project-goes-live-in-scotland-6htkf283q
And, from my personal experience as an aviator, there is a lot of wind, most of the time, in the British Isles.
RB