PRAISE the Lord! Rishi Sunak seems to have woken up at last.
He has suddenly realised that the world’s looking a little bit dangerous right now. And so he’s vowed to increase defence spending.
AFPRishi Sunak has realised that the world’s looking a little bit dangerous and has committed to up the defence budget[/caption]
EPARussia and China — and, to an extent, Iran — know that we’re not ready for a dust-up[/caption]
He said: “An axis of autocratic states like Russia, Iran and China are increasingly working together to undermine democracies and reshape the world order.”
Gee, really? Who’d have thought. Anyway, he’s pledged to raise the percentage of our GDP that we spend on defence to 2.5 per cent by 2030.
We currently spend about two per cent. That will be an additional £75billion of funding, and most of it will go on munitions and modernising our Armed Services.
Too little — and probably too late, Prime Minister.
We know he’s a recent convert to higher spending on defence because there was pretty much nothing about defence in the last Budget. And that was only a month and a half ago.
Maybe, since then, someone has shown Rishi a globe. And shown him how big some of our enemies are.
EPAMaybe someone has shown Rishi Sunak a globe And shown him how big some of our enemies are[/caption]
The truth is that, for 20 years, all of Western Europe has been dozing. And pretending that actually there’s no great threat to our way of life from Russia or China. The Russians invade Crimea. They assassinate people on our soil. They invade Ukraine. And still Europe watches from the sidelines, pretending it isn’t happening. The Chinese and Russians both use cyber-technology against us. And still we do nothing.
In fairness to us, at least we pay our fair share to Nato. We hit the two per cent target — along with those countries who know that the threat is grave. The Baltic states, Poland.
We’re not ready for a dust-up
And, of course, the USA. But the truth here is that the Americans are getting a bit sick of Europe not pulling its weight in Nato. France, Italy, Spain still don’t stump up anywhere near enough cash.
I don’t blame former president Donald Trump for saying that those countries do not deserve protection.
Look at what our adversaries are up to. The Russians spend a staggering 6.9 per cent of their GDP on defence.
The Chinese have just increased their expenditure on defence by a whopping seven per cent. It now stands at £180billion per year.
The more we can show Putin and Xi that we take their horrible, despotic, aggressive, regimes seriously, the less they are likely to — how can I put it — take the p***?
But Russia and China — and, to an extent, Iran — know that we’re not ready for a dust-up. They’d rather we pretend nothing is happening and spend our nation’s wealth on ever larger welfare payments. They know we don’t have the stomach for a fight. That is the thing we need to address. The more convinced Russia and China are that we will do nothing to counter their aggression, the closer we come to a real war somewhere down the line.
The more likely it is that China will invade little Taiwan. Or Putin will marshal his tired troops into Ukraine’s tiny neighbour, Moldova. So spending on defence doesn’t make a dangerous war more likely. It makes it much less likely.
The more we can show Putin and Xi that we take their horrible, despotic, aggressive, regimes seriously, the less they are likely to — how can I put it — take the p***?
The first duty of a government is to protect its citizens from foreign attackers. Western Europe has neglected that notion for too long. It’s good to see our Prime Minister has at last opened his eyes.
I WAS very sad to read of the death of former Labour MP Frank Field.
There are not many serious, original thinkers in the House of Commons.
But Frank was undoubtedly one. He understood the appeal of traditional values to working-class voters. And he knew those values helped to hold society together. They worked. Rest in peace, Frank.
St George’s Day critics just make me Cross
AlamyI’m not a big one for flag-waving but, if it annoys the lefties, then, hell, count me in[/caption]
AlamySt George’s Day is just a time when we can all come together. It is an inclusive celebration[/caption]
I HOPE that you celebrated St George’s Day in great style.
I’m not a big one for flag-waving but, if it annoys the lefties, then, hell, count me in.
They never tire of telling us that St George was “actually a Palestinian”. Or maybe a Turk, or something not English. And that we are all racist for flying the St George’s Cross.
It’s weird that a sizeable proportion of our country takes enormous pleasure in hating our country. St George’s Day is just a time when we can all come together. It is an inclusive celebration.
Which is why I put on my Doc Martens, St George’s Cross T-shirt, shaved my head and spent the day shouting at foreigners.
FacebookMayoral candidate Dave Bettney with a tank on the campaign train[/caption]
MY tip for the next mayor of South Yorkshire is Dave Bettney of the SDP.
I’ve campaigned with Dave. The last time he brought a bloody tank along.
That suggests to me a man who is determined to win. You read it here first.
Clear 3 were creeps
LOOK, I am no oracle. Just a jobbing hack who knows no more than most people. (Apart from the contestants on Tipping Point. I know more than them.)
But when I was a kid, aged 13, I knew three things as a matter of indisputable fact: Gary Glitter, Jimmy Savile and Rolf Harris were seriously creepy t***s.
And, truth be told, most of my friends knew exactly the same thing.
We couldn’t stand them. So who were the people who thought they were brilliant?
I suppose the same kind of people who thought Russell Brand was bloody hilarious.
AlamySeaside rock-making factories are closing, with experts blaming cheap Chinese imports – but maybe it’s just bloody, tooth-shatteringly horrible[/caption]
SAD news? Lots of seaside rock-making factories have closed down in recent years.
Experts say it is because of cheap Chinese imports.
Hmm. I wonder if it isn’t because, after all this time, the British people have suddenly woken up to the realisation that seaside rock is bloody, tooth-shatteringly horrible – and are now wondering why we ever liked it in the first place.
20mph in a car crash
PAWelsh Transport Secretary is a twit called Ken Skates[/caption]
YOU think our government is bad?
Just take a look at what the poor Welsh people have to put up with.
They have had 25 years of uninterrupted Labour rule. And, as a consequence, have the worst healthcare and education in the UK.
Not just that, but the Welsh Labour politicians are never happier than when rolling out some grandstanding, right-on policy to infuriate the locals even more.
They introduced a blanket 20mph speed restriction in towns, cities and villages. It caused anger and chaos.
Now they’ve been forced to let councils increase the limits back up to 30mph on some roads from September.
The Welsh Transport Secretary, a twit called Ken Skates, said: “We all agree 20mph works really well where it matters most – outside schools, hospitals, heavily built-up areas, where children are coming into contact with motorised vehicles.”
So, in other words, exactly as it was before the government interfered, Kenny!
You can tell he’s a bit of a plonker by his use of the term “motorised vehicles”.
“Cars”, Kenny. You mean “cars”.
I’VE been freezing my nuts off for the past three weeks.
I can’t remember any other April that has been this cold.
Up here in the norf, we’ve had regular frosts, hail and even snow.
I wonder if the Met Office will tell us where this April ranks for average temperature?
Bet they don’t. They only tell us when it’s been too hot.
Hamas should cop it
CAN you imagine what would happen if a copper policing an English Defence League march stopped a black bloke from crossing the road because he was “openly black”?
And then threatened to arrest him? I think they’d abolish the police.
But after an officer warned he would arrest Gideon Falter, and said he was “openly Jewish”, there’s still no sign of the Met boss, Mark Rowley, resigning.
Britain’s Jews fear for their safety on our streets. And those Hamas groupies marching through London have been treated with far too much leniency by the Met.