A rolling list of those Tory MPs choosing not to contest their seats again.
Liz Truss’s authority continued to weaken. Proposals for spending reductions – including cutting schools capital spending – shocked ministers.
As markets opened the weekend after Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget and his promise of “more to come”, the pound plummeted to an all-time low of $1.035 against the dollar.
If we are to keep our nation safe, our adversaries deterred, and our allies reassured, we now urgently require full-scale reform of the way we be buy and support our fighting equipment.
The objective seems to be to help it survive and to stay in the fight (with perhaps 70,000 dead already), but not for it to win back its lost territories in a timely manner.
“Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not having been at sea.” Dr Johnson’s observation has stood the test of time – but is a poor basis for civilian, parliamentary government.
Today’s changes are expected to be small-scale with a bigger shuffle taking place before the King’s Speech in early November.
Our local government editor highlights how consistently popular the Defence Secretary has been in our Cabinet League Table.
In the wake of what seems to have been a fraught NATO summit, the Defence Secretary’s words are a reminder that public opinion in key nations is not so strongly behind the war as it is in Britain.
Joe Biden’s visit is a reminder that slavish enthusiasts for the American alliance and the most splenetic critics of the President can be equally embarrassing. Is a little Gaullist self-respect too much to ask?
With war ranging in Europe and the bulk of Russia’s fighting capacity deployed in a NATO-adjacent country, now is not the time for playing dated grievance politics with the transatlantic alliance.
Mounting domestic pressures and tight budgets mean defence is likely doomed to always look like an easy cut when election time draws near.
Russia’s invasion represented the first open attack on an already-fraying rules-based system. The post-Cold War status quo, about which we became complacent, is gone. Everything has changed.