Moreover, its leaders do not understand his motivations. He doesn’t want a win in Ukraine; he wants a continuing crisis.
Plus: I’ve been around the political lobbying world for 30 years, but the Greensill scandal has genuinely floored me.
As the run up to the Integrated Security, Defence and Foreign Policy Review draws closer, here are some ideas for improvement.
As the great eye of the Conservative Party swivels its gaze towards the Far East, it’s in danger of missing other threats that are closer to home.
As with Brexit, the fundamentals of the Tory position are much stronger than they may seem to be.
Security needs to become a responsibility of the nation, not just government’s professional forces.
By combining all the Cabinet approval ratings for the year, we can see the true scope of members’ dissatisfaction.
But although the era of austerity is coming to a close, we are emphatically not rejecting the need for ongoing discipline with the public finances.
The transparent absurdity is the whole point; the Kremlin is demonstrating to a domestic audience that they believe they can attack us with impunity.
It hasn’t been perfect, but it is encouraging to see police, security services and ministers clearly communicate about a serious threat.
“Do you agree with John McDonnell, who said this was…state-sponsored?” “If we’re going to make an…assertion like that we’ve got to have the absolute evidence…”
Plus: Gauke’s failure, UKIP chaos, Salmond’s Russia Today shame, Corbyn’s anti-semitism debacle…and an invitation if you live near Bath.
The “extraordinary international response by our allies” amounts to “the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers ever”, Johnson says.
The overhaul of the civil service continues with a new (and notably less Eurocentric) head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.