It isn't only Tory underfunding and mismanagement, although that is surely a big factor. The culture of the armed services - privilege, unquestioned authority, incestuous relationship with companies - and the way in which procurement is approached - gold plating, nationally driven - also count.
This is pretty shameful. Ukraine deserves and needs far far more help and support.
My granny had a funny story about being so incredibly bored and fed up once during the Blitz, when she’d been in a crowded public shelter all day with nothing happening outside, that she and a friend decided to go out for a walk, whereupon a V2 landed in the next street. Lol.
Too many Americans didn't understand British people's attitudes during the 1940-1941 Blitz, and the resistance of others in Europe to Nazi German and Soviet aggression. They preferred to stay out of it, tiring of the news of war. Trump's America won't understand this lovely Ukrainian kid either.
About 800 Patriot missiles were used in just three days of fighting in the Middle East — more than Ukraine has had during the entire war, Zelensky said.
True, you can't analyse this stuff; but you can, sort of, analyse free jazz. You are unfair on free jazz.
No it isn't.
Exactly so.
This is the core problem with the EU. One member country can hold up so much.
So, if Putin is 'straight' with Witkoff, he must say he wants Ukrainian territory that he hasn't yet conquered, Zelensky gone and a pro-Moscow government put in place, no EU or NATO membership for Ukraine, and limitation on Ukrainian military strength. So what is the US talking about with Putin?
Chancellor Merz:
Countless people have lost their lives from the Russian aggression.
Entire cities have been razed to the ground. No consideration has been taken for residential areas, hospitals, schools, kindergartens. Ukrainians have endured four winters of war so far.
And those political choices have sometimes had the support of people 'left behind', although I can't speak for Horden. Elected governments implemented privatisation, deregulation, deindustrialisation, austerity, and Brexit, which harmed the UK economy, infrastructure, and/or increased inequality.
Good initiative.
They are largely made (and widely used) in SE Asia too. I'm not saying Malaysia doesn't have the right to do this, but 'rich western countries' can't be blamed for absolutely everything.
2/they could now control more territory and perhaps even have prevented Russia's full-scale invasion.
“Allies provided unprecedented support to Ukraine, but the big mistake was not providing more support earlier… Are we making mistakes today? I think today we need to do more.”
Exactly so.
Hitler tried to end wars by winning them. Trump is trying to end a war by enabling Russia to win it. Doesn't Rubio appreciate that the terms on which wars are won and lost matter?
So Orban is what Rubio has in mind when he speaks of the US-Europe relationship.
Exactly so.
The most important thing now is that we need to flip the switch in our minds. We have understood that in the era of great powers, our freedom is no longer simply a given. It is under threat.
Merz:
Russia's GDP currently amounts to about €2 trillion.That of the EU is almost ten times as high.And yet today,Europe is not ten times stronger than Russia
Our military,political,economic and technological potential is enormous. But we are still far from exploiting it to the extent necessary
77 million Americans voted for him......
Day 437 of protests in Georgia. Repression deepens by the day: opposition voices silenced or jailed, political dissidents behind bars, journalists targeted, democratic checks dismantled piece by piece.
Merz is right. This is a serious moment, and if Europe can't respond to that seriousness then national leaders must.
The US government is staffed by escapees from a kindergarten for troubled kids. Czarzasty is perfectly entitled to express a point of view, not least a point of view that everyone outside the US agrees with.
Nigel Farage tells GB News that Keir Starmer's decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador shows his judgement is "seriously wrong" and he should stand down as Prime Minister.
Here's what Farage said when Mandelson was appointed
Agree totally. I also want UK to be part of the EU and of that way of moving forward.
🔴In Putin’s Orbit: The Crypto Politics of Jeffrey Epstein and Peter Thiel
The web of ties between Epstein, Moscow and Silicon Valley leads back to Steve Bannon and Nigel Farage, reports @peterjukes.bsky.social
bylinetimes.com/2026/02/03/i...
That's surely a very big part of the explanation.
