Those appeasers of the Ayatollahs who are self-styled “progressives” should be treated with derision.
The Defence Secretary refuses to support the action and adds “it is for the US” to explain whether or not its strikes on Iran are within international law
The Defence Secretary says the Iranian regime has been a “source of evil.”
Starmer says power is frustrating. His government seems determined to prove the point. From defence spending to schools guidance, Labour’s instinct is not action but sluggish postponement.
The Defence Secretary adds that it is “close to home” as he regularly take the same train route.
The Defence Secretary says new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will continue the ban on Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.
Labour’s promises in the SDR are not only unfunded but, from expansion of the regular army and reserves, to introduction of major new capabilities, they don’t deliver until well into the 2030s.
French police are unable to intercept boats in shallow waters, and smugglers pick up migrants like taxis, he says.
Security policy is delivered by soldiers in those boots on the ground, by pilots in those planes in the skies, as well as by sailors and submariners – and we have simply too few.
The developing threats from China and Iran, the situation in the Middle East, all have caused deep fissures in our defence policy. But the fight that is absorbing Britain’s thought, money and materiel most immediately is Ukraine
Democratic nations have no choice but to up their game on Defence spending and do all we can to deter aggressors, whilst aiding our ally in Ukraine. Any other course implies dangerous complacency.
As politicians charged with the supreme responsibility of Defence of the realm, as an absolute minimum we should be fighting to fund our forces, given what we expect them to do for us.
The available evidence fails to generate much confidence. From Labour, we can expect the same, but worse: continuity with added virtue-signalling, and an utter unpreparedness for the coming crises.
He also says that it’s “important to remember the unique complexity… Israel has in trying to take out Hamas”.
Most of Labour’s ‘increase’ is either wholly unfunded, or is the rebadging of other non-Defence spending that will not buy a single bullet, but which will be cynically used to make the amount we spend on the military look far bigger than it really is.