“Russia has become more aggressive, authoritarian and nationalist, increasingly defining itself in opposition to the West.”
“The risks from state-based threats have both grown and diversified … the indiscriminate and reckless use of a military-grade nerve agent on British soil was an unlawful use of force by the Russian State. It happened against a backdrop of a well-established pattern of Russian State aggression.”
These are the respective musings of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2015 and the National Security Capability Review (NSCR) 2018. They highlight the trend of Russia being considered as an increasing security threat to the United Kingdom.
In the years since these reports, Moscow has deployed a military-grade nerve agent on the streets of Britain, conducted multiple cyber-attacks through proxies and made several serious attempts at testing the resilience and capability of the armed forces. This is just to name a few of the hostile actions from the Kremlin.
This article was submitted to the UK Defence Journal by Harry Basnett, a graduate of International Politics and Strategic Studies BA (Hons) from Aberystwyth University.
So, with an upcoming SDSR due for publication in 2020 and in the month that seven Russian warships were escorted through the English Channel, the question must be asked: just how much of a challenge is Russia to our national security? And indeed, where should Moscow be placed in the SDSR on a scale of threats?
In answering these questions, it is important to look at evidence of Russian hostility. The most prominent of which, appears to be the increase in Kremlin directed intelligence operations across the British Isles in the years since 2015.
The deployment of a military-grade nerve agent, ‘novichok’, in Salisbury in 2018 is the most infamous example of this. This saw the attempted murder of two Russian citizens, Sergei and Yulia Skripal by members of the GRU; leading to the hospitalisation of the Skripals, the police officer who found them unconscious and later two British citizens who had come in to contact with the nerve-agent.
One of these Britons, Dawn Sturgess later died from her exposure. An extensive clean-up operation took months to complete, in which time, traces of the nerve-agent were a significant risk to all Britons in the area. No similar attack has happened in Britain since the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006, again at the direction of Moscow.7 Indeed, no similar Russian operations have taken place in another country, which we are aware of. This suggests that the Kremlin is not just capable of launching an attack in Britain, but it is willing to do so too. No doubt should be left in our minds that Russian intelligence operations have increased in severity and frequency since 2015 and the SDSR should reflect this reality.
Though, the hostility has not been limited to this singular event. Cyber-attacks through state-sponsored proxy forces have become the weapon of choice for the Putin administration, infiltrating many European and Western states, including Britain.
A publication from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in 2018 gave accountability for twelve groups operating in the UK, including ‘APT 28’, ‘Fancy Bear’ and ‘Sandworm’ to the GRU.8 These units have launched activities including the collection of emails from a British television station and a spread of ransomware – ‘BadRabbit’.
These events caused damage to individual and corporate securities, and present the inevitability for future occurrences, which may or not be more severe. We also await the conclusions of the Intelligence Security Committee’s (ISC) report which is anticipated to show evidence of Russian cyber-infiltration in UK political systems.
This evidence lies among a wider picture of malign Russian cyber activity in Europe, including operations in France and Germany. It shows the Kremlin’s ability and consistency in deploying dangerous cyber weapons against the UK. The SDSR must draw on this challenge when making conclusions about threats to national defence.
The increasing pugnaciousness and frequency of Russian intelligence operations is not the only evidence of hostility; Moscow has, in recent years deliberately sought to test the capability and resilience of the armed forces.
There has been increasing incidents of Russian aircraft flying close-to UK airspace and heightened activity in waters around the British Isles. Already in 2020 there has been reports of such, including one case where six RAF jets were deployed to mandate Russian Tupolev Tu-142 Bear bomber aircraft to change their course.
In addition to the already mentioned passing of seven warships through the English Channel, requiring nine Royal Navy vessels to shadow their movements.
This too lies among a backdrop of increasing ballistic missile tests by the Kremlin and support for secessionist movements in Ukraine which continue instability in the east of the country; showing a pattern of direct and increasing military action from Moscow towards western states.
Indeed the report of House of Commons Defence Committee (HCDC) noted these factors demonstrate the Kremlin’s hostility.
“Russian actions and statements by senior figures imply that Russia is reinforcing itself for the prospect of future conflict with the West.”
So, where do these factors place Russia on a scale of threats? To answer this question we must observe other challenges facing our national defence and judge where the Kremlin lies in correlation to them.
In the 2015 SDSR and 2018 NSCR Moscow was matched by only factor – international terrorism. Thus, it seems apt to view the significance of this threat against the Russian challenge.
It appears that since the last SDSR, and even the NSCR that the global security situation has changed; no longer is international terrorism the major threat it once was. ISIS has lost the majority of its caliphate in the middle-east. And while other organisations such as Hezbollah are a challenge to British and allied interests in the middle-east, the risk does not appear, at this time to extend to the British homeland. In contrast, Moscow’s operations appear to reach our shores, as shown through the Salisbury poisoning, cyber-attacks and testing of our military capabilities.
Therefore, while terrorism is still a challenge and should be addressed in the SDSR, Russian hostility appears to present a much more significant risk. For this reasoning, in the review, Moscow must be appreciated as the most prominent threat facing Britain in 2020.
And while some might argue that global warming or a viral-pandemic is a more significant challenge, this is a fundamentally flawed argument. Yes, climate change does pose a threat to the economic and geographic security of the UK. And while a viral pandemic such as COVID-19 too threatens these, they are issues which affect the globe and thus require a collective solution, not only a London-centric one. But the Kremlin, that is a challenge which needs to be addressed by Britain, for the importance of its own national security.
In fact, the SDSR should go beyond this and implore the reforms needed to foreign and defence policy to protect Britain from the changed global situation. For too long the UK has been challenged by intrastate actors and government policy adapted to cope with these threats. This has left deficiencies in crucial areas and now the tide has turned. The threat no longer lies in conflict with terrorist groups, but in the risk of direct or indirect confrontation with the Kremlin.
The 2020 SDSR must reflect this change and create precedent for reforms to defence structures and foreign policy to accommodate for this resurgent threat.
Interesting article. In a post Berlin wall world it does seem very odd and retro talking about the Russian threat, but here we are. The biggest immediate threat is from cyber warfare, both direct and indirect, and intelligence forces operating within the UK. We must up our defences and offensive capabilities in these areas. Whether previously announced funding increases are enough I have no idea.
As ever the RN and RAF are the mainstay of our defence against aggressors. We may well be moaning about a reduction in T26 orders this year, the loss of the Albion’s, and reduction in F35Bs. For me though they are less important than SSNs, MPAs and our Typhoons. As long as those numbers are maintained or increased then we can handle anything Russian can currently harass us with. I do mean ‘harass’ as we are highly unlikely to be in direct confrontation with them. All world economies are interlinked so no one will do anything stupid as long as leaders are relatively sane.
The main problem with interdependent world economies and Russia Rob, is that Russia is increasingly backsliding into an authoritarian dictatorship, Russia’s default setting.
Their flirtation with democracy is just about dead and Russia seems to be getting more unstable and aggressive.
I don’t think Putin gives a toss about about the world economy and his sanity is increasingly in doubt.
The issue being his advisors are terrified of him (as is the case of all dictators), so he’d surrounded by yes men.
He’s another Stalin in the making and that makes Russia dangerously unpredictable, the brazen nerve agent attack on the UK is a sure sign of that, it was absolutely ordered and sanctioned from the very top.
Unfortunately, I can’t see Russia rejoining the international community unless they have yet another revolution, a proper democratic one this time!
We can forget the supposed post cold war ‘peace dividend’, we had better robustly reinforce our Armed forces, as Russia will only respect and steer clear of a well armed opponent, and cuts will be seen as weakness and a green light to ramp up its illicit activities.
Exactly John, exactly.
He cares about power so he needs jobs in order to keep the population in check. Their economy is based on exports so if they do anything too silly they will suffer economically even more than now. That’s why they may use little green men to annex areas, probe our airspace, put subs in the North Atlantic etc etc but aren’t going to start a shooting war with us or any other large/medium power. Expect more of the same, war by proxy, trying to gain influence in the middle east and with China.
I agree Rob. I think most feet on the ground people who have been reading about Putin and something of Russia’s economic position will see how matters lie. Miscalculation is, as ever, there to be made or suffered.
One possible reason for trouble in the near future is the likely dreadful impact on the economy from Covid-19. Russia is very dependent on raw material exports, oil and gas in particular. Oil prices have taken a recordbreaking dive recently so I expect Russia’s economy to be severly impacted.
This is could cause Putin signifcant issues at home at which point he is likely to do what many dictators have done in the past – look for trouble overseas and try to rally the people behing him in some daft nationalistic adventure – remember the Falklands?
For the moment, everyone is busy trying to deal with the virus, but what happens when the economy reopens and many find that it ain’t what it used to be? That’s when Putin and may be others will be tempted to pull some reckless move.
I am hoping that we get to rebuild our economy along Greener and more socially equitable lines (please note I am NOT suggesting a socialist model), one that builds one a sense of community and interdependency. The likes of Putin could seriously derail such hopes.
Well said John spot on.
As Putin is widely rumoured as the richest man on the planet and by quite some margin I doubt him damaging the countries economy for a while is a big concern!
it won’t be much use when he is dead. And when he’s dead, then let his zillions go, “to the strongest”. Good luck to them that fight over it.
Wouldn’t agree that Russia is a challenge that needs to be addressed by Britain alone.
If anything it’s a complex issues which will require us working closely with partners and allies to form a long term coherent and strategic plan to meet and reduce these threats.
As a reliable partner we do need to be able to handle our own back yard, in terms of our ADIZ nautical approaches to our home islands. We currently can do this, and also contribute to the NATO alliance over and above that.
It should be noted that it is an established Russian strategy to try and split alliances up, which is why we need to be ready if necessary (a) to be able to police our own home approaches and (b) to continue to pull our weight in the wider alliance.
Areas of concern would be hypersonic cruise missiles launched from Air, Sea or Land outside out ADIZ. Conventional strikes on our early warning radars or key military bases are a growing possibility, and we lack enough Sea Viper or Sky Sabre systems in the current orbat to defend against them. Our conventional deterrence posture to reply in kind also needs addressing, in the context of the specification and timescale for SPEAR4 and SPEAR5 cruise missiles.
Correct. Ore defence involves an appropriate part of being in NATO.
I’m not sure what this article tells us.
Nothing, it’s just fluff I’m afraid.
Definitely
there is nothing in this article but just clear truth
It tells us nothing new at all and presents no new arguments. I don’t question its truth.
As others have said, Putin has billions stashed in tax havens in the West, so he has good reason not to nuke it.
However, he does like to get one over the West for propaganda purposes. So a stunt to embarrass Britain/NATO, by his Navy/Airforce, cannot be ruled out.
He has spent money on new kit for his forces & is quite happy to sell the latest weapons to dodgy regimes. Therefore, we may find ourselves against his weapons, if not against his forces directly.
He is happy to engage at arms length, with “little green men”, cyber & deniable assassinations, with silenced pistols, nuclear & chemical toxins. Also, this rumoured drug that makes normal people want to commit suicide.
To be fair, it is a two way street. If you poke the Russian bear, do not be surprised when it growls at you. Germany & the USA blundered about in Ukraine during the Sochi Olympics. Putin’s response afterwards, was obvious to everyone except senior German & US Officials.
If bear is mad. it has to be dead
Well Trump will not do anything about Putin’s aggression’s when Putin has that tape of Trump with some Russian hookers in a Moscow hotel urinating on his bed after the miss world contest lol!! according to a retired MI6 agent.
MI6 agent or Officer? Those who work for the SIS are Officers, the foreigners they pay to provide intelligence are the agents.
If it is an agent they have no credibility as they lie and betray for money.
If it is an SIS Intelligence Officer I doubt they would be talking, unless they have an agenda.
Yes sorry officer, I got the info off some documentary last year on Trump apparently the officer is well thought of in intelligence circles and was asked to look into Trumps Russian affair’s , I need to watch it again really, but then again its mentioned in the Mueller report I seem to remember.
The beauty of google, Its called Steele’s (the ex MI6 officer) report it’s published in full on Buzzfeed, apparently FBI director Comey was asked by trump to investigate if the FSB had the tape.
Thanks. Curious, will have a look.
That tape is disinformation. The retired MI6 agent is a purveyor of disinformation.
Ye what ever I’m not into conspiracy too , but this is close evidences and explains Trumps willingness to let Putins aggression go.
I have a stupid question…. why do we bother to intercept the bears and why do we bother to escort Russian warships through the channel ? What is the objective, other than to let Russia know our response times and likely opposition. What would happen if we simply ignored it ?
Would the bear really keep coming on until it actually entered British Airspace ? And if it did would we be within our rights to force it down ?
Are Russian warships actually likely to launch an attack as they pass through the channel ? Why not just use airpower to light up their threat receivers, make them very uncomfortable indeed.
Surely we are not concerned about Russia actually trying to attack us ? They lack the conventional ability to do so, so I don’t see why we cant play silly games with their forces if they decide to send them this way.
Im sure there is a good reason that will be explained to me shortly, but from my own life experience the best way to deal with a bully is to push back, not just whimper and take it
Both NATO and Russian aircraft have been “testing” each others reaction times and airspace since the 50’s. Monitoring the time and distance to intercept gives a good indication of a Country’s radar and air defence network capability. However, the main reason we do QRA is to act as mobile IFF transponders for Tu22 Backfires, Tu95 Bears and Tu160 Blackjacks. They regularly patrol down the West coast of Norway around Iceland across the top of Scotland and around Ireland without an active IFF. This means on a Primary radar they appear as an unidentified object that’s crossing through a number of air lanes. The RAF Typhoons are scrambled to escort them on their way, but also to identify and categorise them. There are significant number of modern radar systems that can identify the aircraft from the returned signal, the Bear being the easiest to identify. But it is also a post 9/11 procedure to make sure the aircraft is not a hijacked airliner. The QRA Typhoons are fully armed and part of the meet up procedure is for the pilot to flash the belly of the aircraft to the cockpit of the aircraft, just make sure the boundary line has been set and to make sure the uncommunicative aircraft responds. Russian aircraft do the same when intercepting, although they are known to get real close when flashing their hardware.
It would incredibly stupid for a transiting warship to fire a weapon in anger when in somebody’s backyard. Unless the Country firing could back up what they’ve started they won’t last very long on their own. If it was the prelude to something bigger, there would be lots of other indicators that something big was about to kick off.
plain and simple: Russian aircraft fly across civvy corridors without warning. Would you want your Gin and Tonic all over your lap or your Beef Wellington on your crisp white shirt as the pilot takes evasive movement from this large military aircraft which has appeared from nowhere? at the very least ATC would become very busy diverting aircraft around these unpredictable flight paths
Russia is sliding into a bog that swallowed the U.S.S.R. The economy that pays for Putin’s ambitions has to be stronger to hold his people’s aspirations at the street level. Repression and a multiplicity of nationalist cheerleaders marching this or that Prospect is no answer to empty shelves and inflation or stagnation. He cannot have his cake and eat it. The posture is swaggering but the effective policy is poison and trolls. The west’s greatest strength longer term are our societies. Totalitarian countries have a certain short term advantage but eventually this relies more and more on internal repression. People are swimming with their own children to get into western societies; vanishingly few are going the other way.
Very well said Barry, The west has the advantage in one way in the fact that its freedoms and higher living standards will always attract the repressed people,its very good for intelligence hence Russia goes to extreme lengths to assassinate those who come over to to other side.
Thank you. Ben MacIntyre’s ‘The Spy and the Traitor’ concerns Oleg Gordievsky, the senior K.G.B. defector. Gordievsky’s motive is laid out in detail and it focusses on the strengths an open and plural (as humanly possible) mass society has, where most people can find a role in life as they would wish. Sadly so many of our ‘intellectual’ class seem to have lost that insight. I doubt many of their opposites in Russia have.
Yes very well put.
Britain has actually been attacked by russia chemicals and we are still cutting our forces! We don’t even have the strength to take on a medium power for long periods! We have to rebuild our millitary to say double its current size in certain areas like Amy numbers to protect ourselves incase a large war does break out. I know we hide behind NATO but we should be able to do most alone if needed, we are Britain not Ireland.
We need to be realistic though, given current events. The economy is taling a huge hit due to COVID19, and while I believe it will bounce back, government debt is going to skyrocket.
I don’t believe there will be further cuts to defence but chances are that there equally will not be any major boosts in defence spending. At best a little extra to help fill the black hole somewhat.
Doubling the army would cost a fortune and not achieve much. Navy and RAF would be much more effective places to invest in.
Personally, I would increase the number of Type 31s to 10 and then upgun them. Increases naval size in terms of hull numbers and would also make the T31s more effective.
Doesn’t need to all be gold plated, either. Increasing Sea Ceptors from 12 to 24 and bolting on either 2 or 4 quad canister launchers to provide either 8 or even 16 NSM or upgraded Harpoon Block II would make these ships pretty potent and would be a relatively cheap effort. Bumps it up to maybe £350million per ship, but that still gets you 4 for the price of a single Type 45!
Looking at the UK’s current spend rate for the corona virus pandemic we will have borrowed £225 Billion by May and if the corona virus pandemic goes onto July we are looking at £500 Billion. In reality, and I hate to admit this, we’re looking at major cuts to defence so the defence review is largely irrelevant. Personally I think there are better ways to save money but defence will be the easy target as always…expect the defence budget to fall to 1.5% of GDP (even though our NATO commitments say it should be 2%)….I suspect (although I don’t want this happen as it is our insurance policy for Russia and Chinese blackmail) that our nuclear deterrent and nuclear submarines will bear the brunt. Expect the police budget to be hit as well and the sacred cows of the NHS, overseas aid, schools and benefits to be completely unaffected as always – completely unreformed. Indeed it is the unreformed NHS that has made this pandemic so bad (Public Health England has been disastrous) I think this corona virus will do lasting damage to the UK economy and infrastructure for the next 15 years at least (3 parliaments). Both the Tories and Labour are also both largely irrelevant (and as bad as each other) as they both have made the wrong decisions over the last 50 years which are now coming home to roost (for example the denigration and destruction of our manufacturing base)…so expect some political changes that will ensue on the back of this and maybe a new party breaking through. We’re becoming a middle ranking country and will fall down the league tables. In addition expect significant university cuts even for our elite, internationally respected institutions. Apparently up to 90 of the 169 universities in the UK are in financially dire straits and with a lack of international students like will get worse…We’re heading for a major, and I mean a major, depression lasting three or five years…once we come out of it the UK will be a different country. Without our elite universities we’lll have no future as this will cut off all the new technologies will be developed in South East Asia. This is a epic shift from the renaissance period where Europe dominated and then laterly the US to China and India…Maybe I’m being pessimistic but time will tell but for sure we’ll make epic mistakes again that will make it even worse. Certainly future generations in the UK will definitely have lower standards of living. Good luck to everyone in the UK.
What about just about every other nation in the same boat? Won’t they also be falling down league tables too? So it is all relative isn’t it.
If not, lets just turn off the lights and emigrate.
The UK responded very badly and some aspects of our economy are long standing issues. Our balance of payments deficit is one of the worst in the developed world as our manufacturing base is eroded to 11% of GDP (although is represents 50% of our exports). We have substantial debts standing at 87.5% of GDP and will likely rise to 100% by July. Private debt is twice this figure and so families won’t spend when the lockdown finishes as many will lose their jobs and careers. Instead of saving, investment and manufacturing our economy is based upon debt, poor productivity and an overheated housing market plus cheap labour costs from mass immigration which have lowered productivity further due to lack of investment in automation like Germany. The fundamentals of our economy are not well structured which will exacerbate the corona pandemic issues. South Korea, Taiwan and some Northern European nation states have handled things better. Yes some countries are clearly worse like Spain and Italy and they will fall further. Not everything is relative and these figures above I provided are the latest ones provided by the treasury. Expect defence to be trimmed back a huge amount whilst other areas will not be reformed.
I bet you’re fun at parties Peter
I bet you’re fun at parties Peter
Grow up…
I thought Sole was being fair and tongue in cheek here. Seriously, I think Asia will come out of this well to the detriment of “the west”. If you look, it is the western richer countries worst affected, the BRICs nations and developing Asian countries are (so far) lightly affected. What you also have to consider Peter, is that this will oscillate around the world and that some countries will be affected sooner and others later.
I would concur with you Asia benefitting as you can see from my first post…We have made some very strategic errors in the technology area. I understand it as the upper middle class and middle classes wanted cheap cr*p from China but the chickens are coming home to roost now. I think the upper middle class and the middle classes with largely delude themselves into thinking that we’ll a V cycle upturn but wishful thinking in my opinion. Fortunately I have a degree and a PhD so I’ll be fine and I’m mobile I just feel sorry for the elderly and the next generation who will pick up the tab for my generation and the previous generation’s strategic errors…It’s not really a time for levity as the working class and the lower middle classes will suffer the most. Watch and observe what happens we’re in for a sustained period where living standards are going to drop significantly for the vast majority of the UK – we’ve just been living beyond our means for too long…
The UK responded very badly in what way and to what exactly?
I think the lockdown was 1 week too late. Watching from New Jersey, the UK was far too late to close pubs/restaurants/shops and schools. The lack of PPE and sovereign capacity to manufacture is a problem which affected most developed countries. I think we just about got away with the shortage of ventilators…
Absolutely 100% correcr Julian…The only thing I would mention is that the latest research indicates that ventilators are the wrong treatment for this disease…in the US they have mortality rates of 90% and in the UK there are morality rates of 52% for ventilators. These machines are too stressful on badly inflamed and damaged lungs and these corona virus patients have a lack of oxygen in the blood…
Would 1 weeks difference have made a huge impact, in reality probably not but we will never know. We certainly should have shut airports though, other than repatriation flights I have no idea why we are still accepting flights from hard hit areas like Italy, Spain, New York and from the start right through China!
Hi folks,
Daniele is spot on! This is the point I made on another item on this site.
All nations of advanced economies and capable global militaries will be in the same status and adjustments for defence budgets. I think there will be some cuts, although 2%GDP will be maintained
Cheers
George
“schools and benefits to be completely unaffected as always”
Nearly £40 billion has been cut from the welfare budget since the last recession
Nearly 10% per pupil funding has been cut since the last recession
I really do think you live in cloud cuckoo land…before the corona virus pandemic hit we were running a deficit every month…essentially government was spending more than it raised through taxation. Now we may argue the cause of the deficit…those on the left blame the 2008 financial crash and austerity whereas those on the right see the 2008 financial crash as the fuse and the pre-existing government spending as the bomb. However, the pandemic has now put this on steroids. Now the left will argue better to invest, spend and then the economy will grow whereas those on the right will argue better to see what money is being badly spent or money wasted and save that for paying down the debt. Regardless there will be some tough decisions and the UK will have to answer some long term issues that transcend fifty or sixty years of bad economic management on both the left and right…both Labour and the Tories have badly managed the UK during these years. How to fix these underlying issues will need a big political debate…I’m open minded if I can be convinced with real arguments then happy to have them implemented but it won’t be left or right but a mixture of both…That means cuts, increased taxation and also inflation via devaluation (which is one the mechanisms the UK used after the second world war). All these mean the UK people will have a tough time so we should ask the hard questions and nothing should be a sacred cow…everything and I mean everything is on the table because the stakes are high for this generation and future ones.
Acutely we could get some deflation because of the price of commodities on the world markets has fallen a lot, not inflation.
My best guess it will be a mixture of big cuts, big tax increases and significant currency devaluation which naturally leads to inflation. Food prices are going to rise for the UK in the near term as we have had crop failures and I suspect that food prices will rise as farming will become increasing difficult; especially some fruit and vegetables. Thinking things are going to be a sharp V curve like the governments think just doesn’t take account of what is happening…Maybe I’m wrong and I hope I am…but I think this is likely to happen.
All other currencies have been devalued, particularly commodity exporters like Russia.
Russia is a basket case of an economy…
I think HMG should look at new avenues of taxation as well, not just simply cuts or tax raises.
Legalising cannabis and taxing it would bring in a few billion each year in tax receipts, not to mention that the police could then be used elsewhere.
Oh, and all the people who go to Amsterdam would stay here, or for foreigners, would come here instead, so more tourism.
Just an example but governments need to get creative.
yes but your points above are not all unique to UK although the UK’s position is unique. Imagine being a eurozone country now and all that means. Imagine being in the US where the divide between the “haves” and “have nots” has become a lot bigger. I think the Asian countries will prosper – China, India, S Korea – their figures are so low…unless it comes later. Not sure my quality of life would be higher in any of these countries though in years to come
I think Germany, the Netherlands and Austria will be fine in the eurozone. Spain and Italy yes I would agree those countries are in a nightmare and unless the more prosperous eurozone countries intervene they will suffer badly in an economic vice which is the euro…..I don’t see Germany, the Netherlands or Austria doing debt mutualisation maybe some fig leaf like extra EU budgetary contributions but that is not nearly enough to save Spain and Italy. You can add Singapore to those countries that will prosper…
China will certainly prosper after this unless the world gets together and acts in unison against them. Did it legitimately report what went on probably not, but they do have a major advantage in surveillance and did do full lock downs unlike most western countries none of which have the surveillance ability China has over the population.
India clearly has no clue what is going on and is probably reporting 1% of the truth, no chance a country with such poor healthcare, density of population and poverty levels is experiencing anywhere near the low levels that are officially coming out.
China has seized the initiative…our BBC is parotting most of what the WHO and China are stating…So plenty of useful idiots. I think there is zero chance that the west will gets its act together. China learned the lessons of the cold war…we don’t have the Reagan and Thatcher double act…China owns a lot US and UK debt so have us by the short and curlies…I think our people are too divided to act in unison and too many money oriented people that care just about the cost of things and the value of nothing….I may be wrong but we’re looking at a shift in the balance of power. We have now learned that a virus can bring down even the most sophisticated of military infrastructures without a bullet being fired..China has learned that countries that have money are the superpower and those that are indebted are the supplicants.
India won’t be lying per se, chances are the number of confirmed cases they report is accurate-ish, but there will simply be so many people who are infected, and who die, who will go unreported, unnoticed even.
Sole, we have one of the most generous welfare systems in the world, why do you think all the refuges in France are risking their lives heading for the UK and not staying there?
“Nearly £40 billion has been cut from the welfare budget since the last recession” Bloody good job too….
Don’t say its the fault of universal credit please, that was set up to ensure no one gets more than 24k a year, a generous amount.
People shouldn’t be able to claim more than your average hard working family takes home, that’s patently wrong.
I was correcting him
He made a factually incorrect statement saying schools and welfare don’t get touched, but they do and have
Why have you sent me this John?
I’m just trying to get my head around why you have jumped in trying to defend something that wasn’t even under attack, it’s bizarre
“Sole, we have one of the most generous welfare systems in the world, why do you think all the refuges in France are risking their lives heading for the UK and not staying there?”
Do you have any idea how stupid that statement is, it’s one of the most stupid I have ever seen on these pages and that’s saying something
France does not have one of the most generous welfare systems in the world, it has THE most generous welfare system in the world, they are top of the table, they spend more than the USA on welfare
So it has absolutely nothing to do with the welfare system why refugees try come here, as an asylum seeker they get a lot more in France than they do in the UK money wise, there are multiple reasons why they want to come to the UK, we speak English the global language, no identity card, a better functioning efficient immigration system, and just the plain fact we’re Britain and not France!
But most of all, and this is so ironic after what you said, the biggest reason they choose here over France is because they have a right to work nearly straight away, in France they are not, here after 6 months they can get a work permit and earn proper money, and before that our black market economy is four times that of France so they have a good chance of finding work while they wait to get repatriated or stay
“Nearly £40 billion has been cut from the welfare budget since the last recession” Bloody good job too”
What a thing to say that is, not even a “oh well it’s a shame but I guess it had to be done, tough decisions had to be made”
But you’re glad and pleased about it
Just what is it exactly about disabled people, soldiers with missing limbs, terminally ill people, domestic violence sufferers, fathers made redundant then killing themselves because they can’t afford the bills, all getting money cut from them making them suffer that makes you all warm and fuzzy inside John?
Now i was all for cuts at the time, if every budget is getting cut then that’s the way it is, there was some welfare cuts i agreed with, child benefit for high earners cut, 3rd and 4th child extra income support cut, it’s right that people shouldn’t get more than your average working family, but that’s a small slice of the cuts, some of the biggest have been disability, and that is something I am massively against, and that’s not even cut as in their payments have lowered, even the tories would not do that, it’s just their pay has not risen for years, what a life, born in a wheelchair and every year the struggle is bigger than the year before, all the prices are going up and you’re getting worse off, every single year, to be pleased about that is absolutely f*****f heartless, and says a lot about the man you are
Yes, but if GDP as a total falls, then you can still spend 2% & it is still a hefty cut.
It will have to fall as a percentage of GDP as well I believe..I think 1.5% is a possible figure. We really are heading for a crash…it is just the furlough and business loans that are hiding the extent of the damage…
Furlough yes, the business loans are a joke. Only those that don’t really need them are getting through the application process. All the normal lending criteria is being applied by the banks, so if your business has been severely affected (The reason they are applying in the first place) then you won’t get a loan. It’s just daft. I act for a number of very good businesses who have been declined due to their lack of income at the moment. Go figure.
When that furlough scheme ends it will be a massacre of business and jobs….Yes I know the banks have been useless and given that we bailed them out in 2008 this is unacceptable. The economy is run for the banks rather than the banks faciitating the running of the economy. One area the UK has badly got wrong is both monetary policy and also the reliance of our economy on banks and legal activity. Thatcher did some good things but she left some terrible legacies such as the lack of support for manufacturing that was exacerbated unde John Major and Tony Blair.I have huge sympathy for SMEs at the moment as they are hung out to dry by this government and banks. The irony is that Labour would be no better – they couldn’t organise the proverbial pi** up in a brewery. Indeed I think there are indications they would have been substantial worse but that is cold comfort when this government is totally useless.
You don’t have to spend fortunes to add in an additional layer of protection.
It can be fitted to Typhoon, current warships and land-based vehicles. A small stockpile of these will make potential aggressors think twice.
“In February, the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, General Robert Neller, told USNI News that he wanted to procure and field an anti-ship missile “as soon as possible.” He explained that there was a ground component to maritime conflicts and that the Marines had to help the U.S. Navy control sea space from the land. “…there’s a lot of geographical chokepoints, and you know what they are, and the potential adversaries know what they are. So if you get there first and you can control that space, then you have an operational advantage.”
The NSM will be launched from a mobile platform, possibly from an adapted High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), a truck-mounted launching platform that the U.S. Marines already employ, or a similar system.”
https://thediplomat.com/2019/05/us-marines-select-an-anti-ship-missile/
Equally, and if the budget is indeed cut instead of increased, we should consider a cheaper alternative 4.5 gen aircraft similar to the German airforces current announcement until the arrival of Tempest.
Super Hornets and Growlers could be added to the carriers in future, purely as an example.
Numbers really do make a difference!
i’d like to see a similar analysis of the threat an increasingly capable China poses to global security and the UK in particular. China intends to dominate the Asia Pacific region militarily in the future and make other economies so increasingly dependent on them that they become almost a vassal state. It is a one party state with a president for life and many would suggest that’s it’s culpability and behavior during the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic should be a wake up call.
They’re also master of IP theft and this needs to be considered a security threat in its own right.
If we are to change a significant chunk of our defence strategy towards countering Russia then we need to prepare for this and buy accordingly.
Something that the MoD haven’t quite got their heads around is that not everything needs to be super top of the line, gold plated, £1billion+ wonder machines.
We should focus on growing the size of the Royal Navy and the RAF to counter Russia, and sensible upgrades for the army, which doesn’t need to be massive as we have always been a sea power, not a land one.
Even growing the size of the fleet doesn’t need to cost the Earth, if done sensibly.
– We could grow our submarine fleet with a small fleet of 6 or so AIP conventional submarines to complement our Astutes. These would be far, far cheaper than nuclear-powered hunter-killer subs and would also require less crew. These would be perfect for North Atlantic, North Sea, Mediterranean etc, all well within range. This would also free up the Astutes for escorting our deterrent SSBN as well as for escorting our carrier group during operations (for which the AIPs could also do if around the Med or Gulf). To further extend their range, one could be permanently stationed east of Suez in HMS Juffair.
– Increase the number of Type 31 frigates from 5 to 10, and then up-gun them. Each should have its main gun, increase from 12 Sea Ceptor to 24, and bolt on a pair of quad canister launchers for either NSM or Harpoon Block II antiship missiles. This could probably be done for under £350 million per ship. Whilst over the stated £250 million it is still far cheaper than the Type 26, getting 3-4 for the cost of a single Type 26. I’d hate to have to sacrifice a Type 26 for these but it might have to, if no significant new money can be brought in.
Both the above could be done for a relatively small sum really. Neither are big or fancy but they would grow our fleet significantly (surface escort size from 19 to 24 and fleet subs – excluding SSBNs – from 7 to 13) for perhaps £2-3 billion extra, spread over a number of years.
Agree Steve.