Warnings From History

… and a British government which wilfully sticks its head in the proverbial sand

Morten Morland’s brilliant cartoon in The Times today captures something of which many of us believe about our current government and political class: they are dangerously out of touch with the security realities facing contemporary Europe and by their inactivity are potentially sleep walking us to disaster. It does seem extraordinary that with a major war being fought out in Europe, offering the most dangerous security situation on the continent since the Second World War (Bosnia and Kosovo were child’s play by comparison), our government seems intent on playing fast and loose with our security, by ignoring it. Europe, and NATO, have never been so divided it appears, despite the accession to the alliance this week of Sweden. Britain was always (arguably) the most practical, pragmatic and responsive of NATO members this side of the pond, but not any more. I’ve no doubt that Poland, the Baltic States and even Hungary, which is re-arming at a remarkable (and largely unreported) rate, do not regard the UK with the seriousness and respect that was once the case.

A couple of weeks back Lord Dannatt and I were interviewed on this subject - and that of our book, Victory to Defeat - by Matt Nixson of The Express. It seems utterly essential to us both that a new seriousness on the subject of our hollowed-out Armed Forces is urgently required from those who have charge over us. Sadly, and extraordinarily, we don’t yet see any urgency on this most serious of subjects by No 10 or, for that matter, No 11.

For those who didn’t see it, I’ve copied the article below.