Russian jet fires missile ‘near’ British aircraft

One flaw in your argument is that you are attributing the same safeguards being applied by the Russians to their missile carriage as the West.
I can see a poorly trained ground crewman failing to latch a missile in place and the darned thing just falling off.

That is the clear implication.

Yes just means that we have to A find enough typhoons to escort and B will reduce the scope and range of rivet joint flights to areas where escorts can be provided.

I’d tend to suggest that Wallace has been 100% on this and that the UK turned out to have most of the right kit.

Wallace ruled himself out of the running for PM and is doing an excellent job at Defence. But Penny Maudant has thrown her hat in the ring. IMO, notwithstanding ‘the economy’ the most serious issues facing this country are China and the fact that we are de-facto in a state of war with Russia. For this reason I would like to see Maudant as PM.

Mordant hadn’t got what it takes to be PM.

Sunak isn’t really a PM and his economic policies don’t make a lot of sense. Unfortunately he hasn’t smelt the coffee wrt defence spending and it just isn’t a priority for him. The only ray of hope there is for the present chancellor to stay in post.

Actually I disagree about Mordaunt. She handled herself well at the handover of power to Charles and at the dispatch box when standing in for Truss. She is well proven in dealing with difficult personal tragedy and has naval service experience. She also thinks before opening her mouth.
Hunt has ruled himself out of the race for PM and as you say will provide some stability as chancellor.
i agree, I just don’t see Sunak as a strong enough leader in foreign policy and defence. But he has been proven right with his economic projections. Mordaunt as PM, Hunt as chancellor, Sunak in health?

I wanted Mordaunt in the first place, as did some others here.

I’m a Mordaunt fan, but because of this comical charade over the last few months I fear the Conservatives have rather stuffed themselves. I’d be surprised if we see them back in power after this term for the next 2 or 3 terms which probably means I’ll never see a Conservative government in my lifetime. However, the thought of the cast from the Whitches of Eastwick sitting in power fills me with dread.

Bring back boris. Best of a bad lot.
Who ever is the Tory leader is doomed from the start. It’s like 3 political parties in one. They can never agree on leadership. Longest one I think is thatcher then Cameron. Without the falklands the party would turned on her much sooner. Cameron only lasted so long due to being in a coalition for 5 years then brexit vote.

Borris is being formally investigated for misleading parliament, the simple fact is if he was made prime minister and he was found guilty he would immediately need to resign so effectively he would be a dead prime minister walking until that was resolved.

Yes was a bit of a joke. She’s has resigned. Shortest PM ever at 45 days.
They need to pick a leader and immediately call a general election. 4 PMs have been picked by a party now.
The leadership contest seems to be about what appeals most to those members 1st and what’s good for the country 2nd.
Or at least set out a timeline of a few months in post and a election after that.

Ironic isn’t it, they criticise Boris for misleading, Truss is “a mess” in leading and the rest of them “miss-in-leading” altogether, save a few maybe.

Better the devil you know. At least with boris most knew what he’s like. Who would of thought we would look upon the may and Cameron days a high point in politics in the last 10 years🙈😂😂😂

I’m sticking with my original caricature of Little Miss Dotty.

you have my vote MS. Best suggestion I’ve seen to date. I’d urge keeping Jeremy Hunt as Exchequer.

Hi DM. Whatever the outcome, I hope they let Jeremy Hunt get on with the Exchequer role. He seems component and stability would not go amiss here.

Riveting (no pun intended to the RC135) TV on BBC World though, like an episode of the UK series of “House of cards”

Morning Klonkie and Daniele.
My take on a new PM. Penny Mordaunt is a good perfomer in the House-seems measured and relatively unflappable. Also as a serving RNR officer this in itself is a big plus. Ben Wallace would make a great PM but we need him in Defence. Don’t like Rishi Sunak even though he seems a capable administrator but his “Et tu Brute” part in the demise of Boris and his huge personal wealth won’t go down with many. That leaves Boris-flamboyant, charismatic, forceful and his sins were relatively trivial BUT……!
Here back in SA a couple of Gripens are back in service and the SAAF has signed a maintenance agreement with SAAB.Also we have our own Ajax issue here with the Hoefyster ordered in 2007 and still not delivered!!
On subject, the Ruskies are playins some dangerous games-if that missile had hit the Rivet would have created a very serious situation. I think Putin is literally insane and the key to end the Ukraine madness lies in his removal.
Cheers from Durbs

https://defenceweb.co.za Hoefyster’s future in hands of Control Board-Ajax saga repeated south of the equator

Hey Geoff – how are you, been a while . Yes, I am liking your Penny Mordaunt endorsement . Your Shakespearian analogy is spot on, It just keeps writing itself.

Aah good old Project Hoefyster, the grift that keeps giving (should that be nightmare!).

On a plus note, I was pleased to see the SAAF managed to get a Grippen back in the air! Baby steps. Enjoy the Durbs sunshine.

Hi Klonkie. All good my friend. Doing the middle distance Amashova Cycle race tomorrow 65km. Getting a bit old for this stuff!😉
The next week will be interesting in UK politics!!
Cheers from wet Durban

Good luck and well done Geoff . 65km is a cracking effort.

Morning mate.

Hey DM, enjoy the weekend squire!

Morning Daniele-as below

Morning geoff!

Yep!!!

Paul, I suggest we see how well Penny Mordaunt can run a big Govt department before giving her the PM job.
No doubt good at the despatch-box, but currently inexperienced, unproven – and with some rather mixed views on her ability.

Well, that’s a valid point. But I’ve a feeling in my water that the key skills and attributes the country needs are a strong, earned sense of self esteem, people ( cabinet ) management, the ability to adapt to circumstances and those instinctive survival traits which go with being a woman. She will have loads of technical expertise at her disposal; I believe she has the ability to discern who is giving her sound advice and who has their head up their a@se.

But those are just assertions Paul, not currently backed up by evidence. Ms Mordaunt has not had a big job in politics (we can’t count 84 days at the MoD), she’s never been tested. Indeed, in previous junior ministerial roles, some thought she wasn’t very good!
You might be correct. But there is no evidence that she can govern, has a clear sense of strategic direction – or can get things done.
Before we give her the biggest job in politics, why not try her out at the Home Office, or in the NHS, or at the Treasury?

Morning Alan, point taken re her high level experience ( actually there have been comments accusing her of being a slacker while she was at defence). And I acknowledge that my arguments are assertions; but they are based on observations and credible inferences. What I observe is that she exhibits grace under pressure and that she is well liked by colleagues who have had dealings with her. If you read up on her personal history you find a person who has been moulded by tragedy and come through wiser, more aware of her limitations yet more resilient and more compassionate. That’s a rare combination. Contrast that with Truss, Badenoch and Bravermann who have yet to learn that they do not know it all. In a crisis situation resilience, compassion and a little humility go a long way. Sunak is intellectually agile and very able but untested in life – lightweight risk under the pressure of war time decisions which may need to be taken. Hunt, Wallace would meet your test of soundness and experience but both have ruled themselves out. Wouldn’t trust Johnson or Schapps further than I could throw them. Gove seems to be universally detested. QED its Mordaunt. cheers.

Has Liz Truss not just torpedoed that ‘women’s instinctive skills’ argument?

Interesting point. The thing is that Liz made the mistake of adopting extreme right wing uber competitive male values and ditching female protective, nurturing values. The markets could see that every other country was thinking frugal was the way to go. If you are in a storm you reef in, you don’t pile on the sail.

She ran Defence, that’s a big Department.

👍

For 84 days in 2019, Graham.

Certainly it was a short period but experience is still gained in a short time. Not sure why some claim she is inexperienced. She has been an MP 5 years longer than Rishi Sunak.
She became a PUS after just 4 years. She was first appointed as a Minister after just 1 more year (under Cameron).
She was a Minister under Theresa May.
She ran DFID as a Cabinet Minister from 2017 (huge budget of £15bn). Has served as a Minister with 3 other Portfolios. She was Paymaster General. Her experience is more wide ranging than Rishi Sunak’s, which has almost entirely been confined to Finance.
She is Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council since September 2022. 

Alan. I’m pleased to see you post. 👍

Many thanks, Daniele. I’m still here!

Agree with that.

Penny Mordaunt has impressive values, but has not held one of the great offices of state yet.

We need experience and steady hands, not a roll of the die.

Too much a BSer for me, but Sunak as Home Secretary might be acceptable to the Tory Party, and adding some analytical ability to the job would be a refreshing change. I’d prefer a liberal HS to counteract the Patel legacy, but never gonna happen under the Tories.

But an inclusive BSer 🙂
The country has some deep rooted problems. Huge numbers of school leavers without the 3Rs. Unaffordable child care while families need 2 salaries. GPs have become as rare as hens teeth. Top tier UK research scientists leaving the UK for international teams. Immigration policy focussed on ‘the brightest and best but no Europeans need apply. Brightest and best EU nurses and fruit pickers vanished. Never ending stream of failing maternity NHS trusts. Hopelessly wasteful pf energy housing stock. Still dependent on importing 50% of our food. A political system in which our PM is elected by club of 0.03% of the population….good luck to the next government!

The big elephant in the room of how brexit has had a bad effect on the NHS, sciences, international projects etc etc. If anyone knows what the good points were please let us know.
I don’t want to re run it but we need a happy medium in some parts.

GB has been formed from England and Scotland over 1000 years of invasions. Our corporate psyche is dependent on a national myth of triumph over European invaders; the Armada, Napoleon, Hitler. The truth is that the Saxon England of the Wessex Kings was airbrushed from history after the Norman invasion of 1066 – we lost!
Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe tells the truth about English bitterness – the Normans did not conquer Scotland, where ironically Margaret of Wessex took English culture for safe keeping when she married Malcolm, and became Saint Margaret of Scotland for her efforts in civilising the Scottish Court.
The NHS is the victim of the English bunker mentality – bullied by the right wing of the Tory party. Hardly a day goes by but that the Daily Telegraph doesn’t carry a front page article highlighting another NHS failure; keeping up the pressure to sell it off to their US mates. It takes a great deal of character to handle being bullied without turning into one yourself. As the saying goes, hurt people hurt. Putting up a crucifix in hospital wards might bring everyone to their senses!

Hi Paul. Just a comment-Saxon England, one of many Englands (and still evolving) since, is not the same England that did the Armada, Agincourt, Napoleon, Hitler etc.. I think we should be careful in claiming that Scots believe this or English do that. There is no such thing as a static race nor country in which everyone is the same. The truth is that peoples,races, nations are constantly in change and in which no two individuals think the same

..in change and entities in which no two..
Edit not working

Morning Geoff,
I agree its complicated. Personally I think it helps to draw clear distinctions between 3 key concepts; a people, a country and a nation. A people is the root identity and is defined by things like language, music, literature, and religion. So for example there are Russian people living in Ukraine; they speak Russian and worship in Russian Orthodox churches. I don’t know if they do Cossack dances or drink vodka but you get the idea – culturally, emotionally, they are Russian. But they live in a land ( a country ) with shifting borders and under the jurisdiction of a Ukrainian nation which comprises Ukrainian people whose language is similar but who worship in Ukrainian Orthodox churches and people ( in the west of Ukraine) whose roots are Polish and catholic. Putin cannot parse out these 3 concepts. For him they are one in the same, Greater Russia.
Probably the problem we have here in the UK is that while the Irish, the Scots and the resurgent Welsh are clear that they are a people ( as evidenced by their cultural habits) the English people have forgotten their identity which formed at Brunanburgh and walloped by the Normans. English identity was resurgent in Plantagenet times but was was forgotten as a result of the Reformation and a divisive civil war. The wounds of that time are still with us, not yet healed. Adversity is a good way to remember who you are. Nelson said ‘England expects’ not ‘the UK expects’. England is the only one of the home countries which does not have its own parliament. In order to welcome people of a different culture you need to have a strong sense of your own.

Thanks for your reply Paul. I continue to be bewildered and angered by those who use ENGLISH and BRITISH as though they mean the same thing. In particular our American friends who constantly talk of England’s Queen Elizabeth or England leaving the EU. Another favourite bugbear is the fact that there is no English Parliament and that Westminster has to act as an ad hoc English house along with its main role as the British Parliament-an absurd situation. Also I do not think that an English Irish Scots or Welsh identity should be any barrier to being British as well. The USA is the most polyglot Union on earth and yet they overwhelmingly have pride in being described as Americans first!
Cheers

A nation is a jurisdiction which sets laws and looks after defence and foreign policy. So GB is a nation as is UK since 1921. It’s instructive to look back into history to try to find the original birth of ‘national’ identity, that point in time when, in response to adversity or an external threat a community unified into a people and define themselves by that event. The US came into being and still defines itself by the Boston Tea party, the war of independence and myths
like turkey on Thanksgiving Day, Paul Revere etc. But immigrants since then were not included in that birth, so we see traumatic events like the Civil war, prohibition gangsterism, WW2 and the civil rights movement are instrumental in continuing the process of integration of peoples into a higher level national identity – one nation under God etc. It’s an ongoing process of death and rebirth which is facilitated by wars. The British people’s are doing the same…trying to remember who they are, assisted by public service broadcasters like channel 4 who are currently showing films like A Town Called Alice and Reach for the Sky, WW2 being the most recent point in history that we acted as a unified nation. Brexit was really a (successful) attempt by the English to impose their culture on the Scots and Irish and it’s results have been very divisive because it failed to respect cultures other than English ( who are for the most part prioritise wealth over relationships).

Thanks for the history, fascinating stuff. If it’s over 100 years my knowledge is toddler level.
They better not sell the NHS.
Staffing is a big issue just now. An organisation of that size in the role it does is going to have issues
Ideal scenario would be a 2 level EU. One for economic, trade, free movement (with perhaps limits on employment, benefits etc) shared standards.
The other for all the above stuff and closer political ties, integration, defence forces and other stuff the eu want.

The history is rather rose tinted. Idea that the Scottish court was some last bastion of Anglo-Saxon culture is tenuous considering David I lived in England as Earl of Huntingdon and subsequently invited many Norman families North to Scotland (who played a large part in establishing the medieval Scottish court). Hence Robert the Bruce’s French origin in his name. Norman’s may not have directly conquered Scotland but came to be that South-East Scotland was heavily Anglo-Norman.

You are welcome. Personally I think we should consider the Italian NHS model. It looks to me like what we need.
i’m hoping that Macron‘s initiative will lead to a sort of 2 tier EU. We and the EU need the UK to be included in the kind of areas you mention.

Whoever becomes PM will almost certainly replace Hunt as Chancellor. He got that job as a political ploy to try and appease Sunak supporters, not because he knows anything about politics.

Sunak was 100% accurate in predicting what would happen if Truss followed through on her economic agenda. He clearly has more clue on economics than even MP and member who voted for Truss.

Whist Truss had no clue and Kwasi had no feel for the markets.

I wouldn’t overestimate Sunak’s economic nous. The only useful thing he did was to introduce the super deduction. Other than that it was Brownian motion – motion of money from your pocket to an ever larger state.

NHS is a super hot potatoe but the sooner we face up to the fact that the attitudes of the nurses, medics and management are at the root of the problem the sooner it will be on the mend. Believe me when I say that the Kent babies scandal is the norm. Same happened to my daughter nearly killed her mother and did kill her twin brother. The total incompetence – nurses who couldn’t make up a molar out solution properly a doctor in NICU who understood less about circulation than I do; lying is the norm; covering up and altering notes is also the norm.

Sorry to hear about that experience and your little boy

I agree I’m just not seeing anyone in the conservative parliamentary party apart from hunt who could be a credible PM, but the party are never going to go for him.

Sunak’s the only one who’s policies do make sense , the only adult in the room , as the rest have found out the hard way. The whole cut tax borrow more , massively increase defence spending was economic fairy tales.
It’s ok having a tax cutting ideology but have u have also to face the reality of spending on covid and an ongoing war in Europe, Sunak saw this the rest well it’s like putting children in charge of the sweet shop.

I do have time for Wallace though, mordant not sure, her economic vision was a bit to close to truss for not liking.

Trouble is we do have a war on at the edge of Europe and likely the Iranians stirring the pot with the Chinese looking to do something.

If this wasn’t a dress rehearsal for Taiwan I don’t know what was….

Wallace has been on the top of his game, and has played the whole Tory leadership election well! He seems to be genuinely concerned in regard to defence, sensible and mature, who seems to be liked….therefore he is a threat and will need some made up bad news stories leaked to the press by jealous Tory “colleagues”!!!

He is too focused to play silly games.

I think he is, in a professional sense, getting satisfaction from the challenge.

I believe in him.

I’m pretty sure any attempts to do him down would be met by a wall of protest from parliament as a whole.

Zelenski was lucky the Wallace was in post when Doris was sent to the back benches.

Amazing how fast a clown seems like a statesman….

He is a good defence minister and hopefully he stays there. The leader role is a nightmare and what clown would take over defence if he wasn’t there would be my worry.

My vote would be for Julian Lewis, if he’d take the job, but Wallace is playing a blinder and I’d agree that him staying is best for the country.

But China’s isn’t.

And that will be the new axis of troublemakers.

Agreed but China is a whole new debate to be had. Russia is nothing apart from it’s nukes and even in the worst case scenario won’t pose any threat for 10 to 20 years if ever.

The bigger issue is what happens to the nuclear weapons if/when Russia fragments?

Ukraine did the right thing with theirs, though they may regret it, but others naught not.

I’d hope/expect the professionals in charge of the nukes to behave accordingly. At least we’ve been here before with the USSR.

But why try to disconnect RAF Saxa Vord?

What are the Orcs worried it might see?

You have to remember that on the site these days, as well as the radar, is the new Spaceport and a distillery. It’s obviously the distillery Putin was targetting. The swine!

That is a good point.

Perhaps he assumes that as the Russian army marches on the bottle – if he stops the Scottish regiments having their wee nip, then it is all over bar the shouting?

Where did you read that RAF Saxa Vord was affected by the cable damage ?

I didn’t but it is in the area…..

I suspect BT bought bandwidth on the existing fibre link when Saxa Vord was shut down in 2006.

All speculation but quite likely that existing infrastructure of value would be repurposed.

The problem Mr Steeper is this and I will give you an example. Take Tempest an aircraft to go into service 2030s we hope. If the Chinese were doing it, putting aside technology issues, it would be completed in 2 to 5 years. Likewise the Russians, win or lose will rebuild their army within 2 to 3 years and learnt from their mistakes. Come 2026 the Bear will have its sharpened teeth and claws back. The threat will be back. Worse still I can see Putin gone and Wagner in charge. That’s guaranteed war !So I would keep the champagne on ice if I was you.

So western economic sanctions will be reversed. As will the institutionalised corruption. Total binning of Russian military doctrine,training and organisation. All to take effect within 5 years. Yeah we’ll agree to disagree.

But not unlikely.

Wrong, it’s most improbable.

Putin doesn’t want a war with NATO, and NATO doesn’t want one with him.
Even if there was an accident due to the fog of war, such as a lone Russian cruise missile overflying its target and landing in Poland you wouldn’t see it.

So you can stop your Mad Max style prepping 😉

i wish I thought you were right, but wants have very little to do with which wars escalate, so what NATO or Putin individually may want is actually irrelevant, as they are likely mutually exclusive and the geopolitical fault will rub along until something happens.

As an example no power wanted the First World War but they still got it, Hitler was not very keen on war with the British empire and quite frankly the British establishment had little interest in going to war with the third Reich but it still happened. War has literally nothing to do with individual want and everything to do with geopolitical fault lines and tension.

Putin cannot back away from Ukraine, he’s developed a the West is attacking us dialogue that a large amount of the Russian population believe. NATO cannot let Putin take Ukraine and so will provide ever increasing aid….these two sets of facts will rub and clash, no matter the wants of the players.

I actually think some form of NATO Russian conflict is very likely, unless these pressures can be removed by either:

1) NATO pulling support from Ukraine, which would be a terminal blow to western hegemony and leave an ever increasing security risk in Europe ( so will not happen).
2)Putin pulls back. As he has created the dialogue of western attack on Russia if he did this he would be pulled from power and probably lose his life ( so will not happen)
3)Putin is removed from power..possible, but unlikely he owns the media, the army and security forces.
4) Ukraine losses/gives up..unlikely to happen when the wrest keeps providing arms.

unless one of these four states occurs, the geopolitical tension will increase around the conflict until someone does some profoundly stupid ( read Putin).

As for prepping, I’m manager of life and death risk in a complex system who has studied in detail management of risk to life including all the key risks at national and international level….I Don’t prep for the end of the world as that a bit time consuming and costly….but i do. Undertake some basic actions that would alleviate risk incase of a national emergency:

1) have food in the house for 2 months, rotated so it’s just used in the normal course of everyday life, not some supply buried in the garden.

2) as well as wood for heating and means of cooking.

3)a supply of wealth not related to any currency ( silver,gold) as part of savings.

4) and if needed an evacuation plan ( including the best place within 30 mins to be incase of nuclear war). it’s easy to locate safe areas as there are risk assessments around likely areas of nuclear strike and prevailing wind.

i know it seems odd but to me Most live in wonderful delusional state that the world will be fine.

but I Live in a world where I know with for a fact there is a mass murder with a teapot of poison wanting to kill you ( seriously I was gathering evidence on one, who then tried to poison my wife) or massive pubic health risks pop up that just happened one day, though a small error ect.

As a good example we are only one crisis away from food not being available after 2 weeks ( there was a study in European food supples and management of food Security ….it’s shall we say Insightful, the question is how you feed a city of 5million if you loss critical infrastructure, the short answer is you don’t with the big problem being that most city dwellers don’t have any food redundancy…..so the best thing you can do for society is ensure your own personal food redundancy).

I love risk…..but it does mean I’m never optimistic ( my experience is optimism kills people).😬😬😬😬

Hitler didn’t want war with Britain, but he wanted Poland more, so he accepted it as the price to be paid for gaining Poland.
The analogy between Hitler and Putin fails, because Putin knows that his conventional forces will be defeated very quickly by NATO. Hitler believed he could defeat Britain and France.

Putin controls the media in Russia, so his forces could be wiped out in Ukraine, and he could still dress it up as some kind of victory. And the Russian people are so fearful of him it doesn’t matter anyway if they known the truth.
Of course, Putin could simply pivot this into a 1984 style never-ending war, simply to keep himself in power. I wouldn’t be surprised if under his creeping martial law the need for elections is suspended indefinitely.

I’ve been hugely critical of JIT since it was introduced in the 90’s due to lack of redundancy, and we saw the result post pandemic.

And my experience of life is that such pessimism kills even more people, because it turns life to mere existence. Without optimism you really cannot have any real hope.

Personally if there was a nuclear war I wouldn’t want to survive it because I wouldn’t want to be stuck with only the kind of people who prepared for it…

the thing is it’s not just about conventional forces it’s about Putins belief in the political will of western nations to fight a war with a major nuclear power and he may very well make the wrong judgment Bet it all on red, because in the end he may be right about the west or he may get it very wrong. In reality Hitler did not actually think the U.K. would declare war over Poland, he was willing to bet he would be either able to manage the U.K. and France or they would stay out of the war, he was right about the 3rd republic he was in correct about the British empire and in the end that boxed him in Europe and caused his downfall.

As for a nuclear war, almost now one is living through a full exchange, all the modelling around black soot and crop models shoes that for every 100-200 500kt warhead you will loss around 10% of world food production for a decade. So a full exchange takes out all crop and food production for a decade.

As for pessimism killing people, we have have worked in different fields, and Healthy pessimist just being a realist who never ever turns away from a risk and says, that’s not going to happen. I’ve pretty much lived and breathes life and death, failure and and the worst outcomes people can imagine for a 30 years, and I can hand on heart tell you, if your life is in danger it will not be the optimist that saves you it’s the person that’s always looking for that risk and are ready for it.

As for having fun, the risk aware slightly pessimistic will be no different from the Optimist , it’s just when you need them they will have a plan and know their stuff, following the line that optimism is not and never has been a plan. there are a few children and adults now walking around because I aways followed that view and in some cases saved their lives in spite of the optimist as well as the careers of some of my more optimist colleagues ( infact I’ve had…the he’s fine..no he’s not he’s going to arrest, crash call him now conversations…as well as a few “this service will be fine I’m sure it will not collapse and it’s safe….no it’s going to Fails kill children” conversations while standing my ground and practically blackmailing senior leaders with the CQC and other regulators till it’s sorted and safe, even to the detriment of my own career in one case).

So to be honest I have found optimists on many occasions to be either happy fools ( until the world takes their innocence in a horrible way) or are actually people who just wish to refuse to see or try and hide that facts because it does not suite what they want ( generally very senior managers of systems)

Don’t get me wrong, Striving for the best and inspiring people Is very importantand for that you need a level of optimism but You must also always balance that with a good dose of pessimism and that willingness to understand that the world is just as likely to turn to shit and if you have not thought about that and have a plan your going to be just another victim or part of the problem ( and I have wrapped so many of them in white sheets after I’ve told their mothers,children or fathers the bad news).

Steady on olld chap, let’s not get too gung ho

Exactly! Shoot first and wish we had peace and were alive later on. Who needs balance, tact, level headedness and firm resolve to NOT be provoked when we can go all Clint Eastwood ( my fav actor btw but this is real life not Hollywood )

Shoot first and die second, but at least we would have won for a few mins.

Nuke Moscow & we will be international pariahs, for any surviving the resulting MAD.

I would’ve prefered we had not said back in February we definately would not send troops if Russia invaded(again). That practically gave Putin a green light. Now we’re defending Ukraine to the last drop of Ukrainuian blood. I know many disagree, but I think it may have prevented mant Ukrainian & Russian deaths etc.

We need to be clear & resolute that any escalation will be met like for like, otherwise we permit aggresion & the owrld becomes very dangerous.

I suspect Levi was being sarcastic Frank….

Frank is not wrong, but a US heavy armoured division ditto UK brigade some Polish units, a Sq of UK typhoon and a US air wing sent to Ukraine in early February 22 ” on exercise” the shooting match would not have started. Putin would have cemented his position in the Kremlin by saying look at the threat NATO poses, you need a strong authoritive leader like me in charge. I not totally convinced he wanted to actually invade but the weak woke liberal West gave him no reason to march his troops back down the hill. Putin is no fool he would have an idea at least as to how rubbish is army was, in had worked in the security arena, true it turned out he did not know how infective they would be.

“but the weak woke liberal West gave him no reason to march his troops back down the hill”

“The weak woke liberal west” as you say sure seems to be giving the ultra masculine, bigoted, Russia a beating without trying very hard to be honest.

Nope I totally agree. We should of at least went in to the western half of Ukraine. Call it a peace keeping mission. It hopefully would of kept the peace as Russia may not of went full invasion. Even if it was just the U.K., Poland, Baltic’s and who ever else wanted to come.

That was firmly tongue in cheek

I have no real tech knowledge either, only what I read, so no idea what is what regards monitoring and fault finding.

I’m aware of most of the “CLS” Cable Landing Stations which are the landside “nodes” before the system connects to the UK F/O network. The USG listed several of them as “CNI” Critical National Infrastructure damage/disruption to which would cause grave damage to US security. They’re not that hard to find if one looks, and the fact we monitor many of those sites ourselves regards intercept then you’d think systems are in place at those locations to detect any interference of the cable out under the seas, but that is just a guess on my part.

Perhaps we should start using carrier Pigeons again….

Wallace has just backed Boris to return, no doubt to ensure he gets his budget increase so he may well be back. Crazy times

I would say Rory Stewart would the most talented person for the job but he been forced out of politics unfortunately.

Sadly the alternatives are too radical for many to stomach. I admire Constitutional Republicanism as a model. Without getting hysterical over our history (easy to do ) We are stuck with a system imposed in 1066. I believe the figure for English land ownership is that around 30% is still owned by Norman families. The actual system of governance with an unelected second house is a joke. For me mainly, it is as you rightly say, the quality of the individuals elected is appalling with a few exceptions. As an “older” veteran, I have heard weasel words and promises over decades about veteran care. Yet they released mass killers, then pursue men in their seventies for alleged “war crimes”. It is the institutions we once respected also, that have fallen into the mire. The police, NHS, and Civil Service. Although many good individuals do their utmost within those bodies do work wonders? The majority seem lazy and incompetent. I will stop there, I think you get where I am coming from.