Sometimes it takes a crisis to fully reveal the cold, hard truth.
The Iran war has done just that in relation to Britain’s military readiness.
Over many years there have been countless warnings of under-investment in our Armed Forces, and now the conflict in the Middle East has exposed just how grave the situation has become.
Ten days after the first missiles fell on Tehran, the Royal Navy finally despatched a single warship to protect British military interests in the Mediterranean.
It is approaching a laughing stock –something that has not gone unnoticed by Emmanuel Macron.
The French president visited Cyprus, the location of the RAF Akrotiri airbase, and told islanders they can ‘count on France’.
He landed by helicopter aboard the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, to crow: ‘An attack on Cyprus is an attack on all Europe.’
By contrast, Britain’s two aircraft carriers (price tag: more than £3billion apiece) both remain at port, with one – HMS Queen Elizabeth – thought to be months away from returning to service after drawn-out repairs to its propulsion systems.
Political leaders, both current and former, must share the blame for failing to heed the warnings about our depleted military.
But Sir Keir Starmer alone bears responsibility for the vacillation that has enraged the White House and left other allies questioning Britain’s military relevance.
If Argentina were to invade the Falkland Islands tomorrow there would be next to no chance that Britain could send a Thatcher-style taskforce to take them back.
In the event of a wider conflict, we would be more dependent than ever on America, yet Starmer’s peacenik folly has left us distrusted and unloved.
Recovery from this dire position will require billions redirected to defence from the over-inflated welfare state, our indulgent asylum system and sloppy Whitehall budget-keeping.
If Labour fails to rise to the challenge in light of what we now know about the state of our Armed Forces it faces being accused of nothing less than treason.
Victory over hatred
The Al Quds march – a creation of the Iranian regime – had been set to go ahead in London this weekend.
Initially only one Labour minister, Sarah Sackman, broke ranks and called for it to be banned, the rest of her party hesitating to speak up in case it lost them Muslim votes in marginal constituencies.
Starmer’s No10 shamefully passed the buck, saying the police should decide whether it should be outlawed.
The Metropolitan Police and the Home Office finally bowed to pressure – and the Daily Mail’s exhortation – last night and moved to ban the event.
As the Iranian mullahs rain missiles upon our allies, this should mark the beginning of a new approach – a willingness to be intolerant of intolerance.
Mistaken identity
Labour is blindly pursuing its obsession with digital identity cards.
Ministers have been unable to state their purpose, apart from generic references to ‘convenience’, and cannot say how much they will cost.
The sole genuine benefit of the scheme – tackling illegal working – will no longer be possible after compulsory registration was abandoned.
The Government should drop this white elephant and instead divert the money to critical areas: first and foremost to the defence of the realm.
