Nobody sane likes war, and those that do seldom fight them. Badenoch isn’t itching to ‘do war’. She’s advocating defending British interests, and if you think Starmer hasn’t damaged those then you are living in an isolationist virtue bubble.
Putin’s message to Russians is if you oppose me, think about every door handle you touch, every letter you pick up, and every drink you accept. His message to outsiders: if this is how I treat my own, just think how I will treat you.
“We have to step up and fast,” he says, as he urges the Government to increase spending on defence.
His disorder is not of the psychopath who lacks all empathy but of the person who has all too much, but only for himself.
Over-riding international law isn’t perfect, but a muscular approach to self-interest feels like a breath of fresh air. Sorry if that offends – and Trump has done more to defend the rights of Venezuelans than Maduro’s Marxists did.
If you are desperate to hear the defining judgement of any party leader in twenty four hours on unfolding world affairs, I suspect it’s largely so you can enthusiastically condone or condemn the response for political purposes, and not much more.
Any state guaranteeing peace must be legally bound to do so, particularly amid political volatility across the continent.
Whatever the final outcome, there is only one way to prevent further Russian aggression: Europe must re-arm, diverting spending from our bloated welfare states into industry, weapons and manpower.
The former Conservative MP, discussing his new book on GB News, warns that China and Iran are using the same approach as Russia.
NATO’s usual way of thinking has been less about creating an effective deterrence and more about collective finger wagging. Its chronic spinelessness has been the West’s slowest-burning tragedy.
A rush to normalise relations with Russia would be a grave, historic mistake – one that Europe and the world will pay for dearly.
Whether President Trump likes it or not, this war is now his war. He did not start it, but it is he who needs to end it. And it can only end if the peace that follows is durable.
On both the domestic and foreign policy fronts, ministers must grapple with the fact that the future into which difficult decisions were shunted has finally arrived.
Donald Trump now holds all the cards. If he plays them wisely – guided by instinct and not appeasement – he could not only secure the peace that Europe so desperately needs but also claim the Nobel Prize, he so clearly desires.
We should remind ourselves that Reform’s policies are all dictated down from the top – there is no democratic process. None of this suggests illegality but it certainly demonstrates the conflict of interest Reform faces.