As Sir Keir Starmer and his Labour party move ever faster towards No 10, aided by the Conservative party’s penchant to fall on its sword with monotonous regularity, we will soon be forced to confront the nuclear-warhead-sized elephant in the room. Promises to grow the economy are all well and good, but the security of the country is of paramount importance, especially when our Russian enemy has made its hatred for us clear.
My recent piece on the state of Russia’s “crumbling” nuclear weapons elicited the expected wild responses from Russian bots, Putin’s “useful idiots” and Moscow’s international supporters, but also from some seemingly balanced journalists and of course the far-Left. The reality is that Putin has threatened a nuclear reaction against Nato for nearly three years in order to scare us out of supporting Ukraine’s defence, while likely lacking any capability to actually fire said nuclear weapons.
Putin’s saber-rattling has vexed some of the more timid Western leaders who have been slow to send weapons to Ukraine, and it has slowed the introduction of tanks and fighter jets to the Ukraine inventory. But proper military aid is now arriving, which, alongside Ukraine’s new ability to attack deep into Russia, could help turn the tide of the war. Nato may not need to put boots on the ground to vanquish Russian forces after-all.
Still, the main reason we are now in this position is thanks to British, French and American nuclear weapons. Regardless of the recent Trident missile misfire, Britain still has a very considerable nuclear deterrent ensuring that the threats of despots around the globe remain just that-threats.
We have the benefit of a relatively well-maintained nuclear arsenal, which in regards to quality vastly outclasses Russia’s ancient soviet technology. Putin is not deterred by our conventional defence, which has been denuded under the so-called “peace dividend”. 70,000 soldiers and 100 tanks might be able to stop a “special military operation” on these isles, but would be insufficient for a fight on continental Europe. According to Labour, a properly-funded military will only come when the “economic conditions allow”, which the Kremlin will surely read as an invitation to ensure said conditions are never reached.
Britain is in a position of strength thanks to Trident’s awesome repelling power. Sir Keir Starmer’s frontbench unfortunately seem not to appreciate this. Come July 5, three of the likely members of Labour’s frontbench (Rayner, Lammy and Nandy) will have previously criticised Trident. In order for our deterrent to work, they must each renounce their prior opposition-and, if they still hold doubts about the program, stand down from their positions. For our safety, our politicians must shout their willingness to utilise our nuclear arsenal loud enough for Putin and his gangster cronies to hear in their Kremlin dungeons.
We were central to vanquishing the last dictator who stormed across Europe, and we must also be central in pushing Putin’s armies back to where they came from. We must ignore those who want to deride this country, and who would have us give up the strongest weapon in our arsenal for no good reason.
Until there is peace in Europe again, there will be a cost-of-living crisis, scant progress made on climate change, and no money to properly found the National Health Service. Starmer must project Britain’s strength, not wallow in weakness, or risk
