John Healey has failed the defence spending test
Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership was already in crisis on 11 June this year when John Healey submitted his resignation as…
Giving 16-year-olds the vote would be absurd
It is not always easy to guess what lasting effects a prime minister will have. With Sir Keir Starmer’s announcement…
The Navy is right to be nervous about Russia’s maritime strength
Russia’s threats towards Britain in recent weeks of ‘consequences’ for its continued support of Ukraine have allowed the government to…
Why would Germany want to help fund Trident?
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. When the Cold War ended and the main rationale for enormous stockpiles of…
Why is Trump unhappy about military drills with South Korea?
Donald Trump has instructed his Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to “substantially reduce” joint military exercises between the United States…
Marco Rubio’s defense spending call is nothing new
This week Ed Miliband made his first trip to Washington DC since becoming Andy Burnham’s Foreign Secretary. He is 56…
Is Reform serious about using the Navy to control migration?
It is 70 years since Donald McLachlan’s Daily Telegraph leader urged prime minister Sir Anthony Eden to demonstrate ‘the smack…
We still know little about Andy Burnham’s defence stance
It was a bare-bones demonstration of politics as theatre. Today, the Prime Minister went to Barrow-in-Furness on the Cumbrian coast…
Why won’t Burnham commit to the 2030 defence target?
It is hard to imagine many people will miss Sir Keir Starmer now he has gone. Perhaps, like phantom limb…
Wes Streeting has much to prove as Defence Secretary
Reshuffles vary in significance. When John Healey was spotted in Downing Street yesterday, there was an obvious question: was Andy…
This Nato summit will be Starmer’s final humiliation
Sir Keir Starmer attended his first Nato summit in Washington, DC four days after becoming Prime Minister in July 2024.…
Why does Starmer think he could become Nato chief?
When the incumbent prime minister – presumably Andy Burnham – lays a wreath at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday this…
The problem with swapping the navy’s destroyers for drones
It can be hard to believe, but it is only three weeks since John Healey resigned as defence secretary, saying…
Starmer is leaving Britain unprepared for future conflicts
Sir Keir Starmer came to office in July 2024 on a manifesto which played heavily on defence. The Labour party,…
Britain’s slide down the Nato league table is an embarrassment
The Strategic Defence Review (SDR), published a year ago and meant to be the fundamental framework of the government’s defence…
Trump is hollowing out America’s intelligence agencies
Donald Trump never loses the ability to astonish. Many people will have breathed a sigh of relief last month when…
Keir Starmer is not serious about defence
Today marks a year since the government published its Strategic Defence Review (SDR). From the outset, it was clear that…
Why is Andy Burnham asking Sue Gray for advice?
As Andy Burnham, who is still mayor of Greater Manchester in his spare time, campaigns to win the Makerfield by-election…
The Ministry of Defence is failing to prepare Britain for war
In the last 20 or 25 years, there has been a much greater understanding that a country’s ‘national security’ encompasses…
Trump’s NATO troop reduction isn’t Europe’s biggest problem
Before Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, there were many commentators who sought to sanitize the President.…
Why Trump is threatening the Falklands
There are still those who argue that President Trump’s aggressive, impulsive and inconsistent foreign policy is radical and disruptive, and…
War bonds won’t fix Britain’s creaking defence
The Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reported to be considering proposals to issue war bonds to fund a splurge in defence…
Treasury squabbles are harming Britain’s national security
The symphony of criticism aimed at the government for failing to live up to its promises of boosting Britain’s defences…
Starmer is being ‘corrosively complacent’ about defence
The old joke runs that you can tell when a politician is lying because his lips are moving. It is…
Can the Royal Navy really deter Vladimir Putin?
The Royal Navy has not had a good few weeks in reputational terms. It was nothing short of humiliating that…
