Many people will have had a hope that the second Trump administration might have been different from his first. That a greater sense of calmness and ‘grown up’ politics would be to the fore. Any vestige of that hope was shattered in the Oval Office and the disgraceful treatment of the Ukrainian President. If that is how this Administration treats its allies then God help us all.
Of course, this came hot on the heels of Vice President’s sermon on free speech and democratic liberty delivered at the Munich Security Conference. An arrogant speech? Undoubtedly. Ill-advised? 100%. Cowardly? Without a shadow of doubt. I say cowardly because I do not think he would have the spine to make it in Beijing, Tehran, Moscow or Pyongyang. There is a lot of conspiracy theory speculation circulating currently concerning Trump’s status with the Russian authorities. I am not a conspiracy theorist. What, however, I do know is that with the President’s tactic of let us unsettle NATO and offend our neighbours and allies the only person who benefits, in geopolitical terms, is Dictator Putin. Russia benefits when the West is divided and uncertain. We are certainly that at the moment.
We will all be familiar with the idea of the Special Relationship between the UK and US. It has been strong and enduring. It can be, as has been special without there being continued agreement on every subject (Suez, Grenada and [initially] the Falklands). It does however need to be based on an enduring trust and that I believe is now eroded significantly. Many of us will also be familiar of the conversation between two people within a relationship which riffs along the lines of ‘we want different things’, ‘we aren’t the same people we were x years ago’ etc. While I hope it is not the case, we should brace ourselves for that being the status of the UK/US relationship. All because it has endured does not mean it always will.
Many North Dorset homes and hearts were opened to Ukrainians following Putin’s unprovoked and unwarranted invasion. I well remember seeing the tsunami of generosity at Sturminster’s Exchange as I helped pack donations of clothes, food and bedding. It was heartwarming. It remains as clear today as it did those three long years ago: to end the fighting is easy – Russia has only to withdraw her troops and respect the sovereign boundaries of the two. Contrary to the Trump ‘philosophy’ the moves cannot only come from Ukraine and I cheered when President Zelensky stood firm against the White House Bully Boys.
The House of Commons has responded magnificently (with the exception of Trump/Putin hero worshipping Reform): a laser-like focus on stronger defence policies, increased defence spending and total support for the Ukrainian people and opposition to the Russian regime. Our Prime Minister (with whom I have many policy disagreements) has led the international response carrying on that role which his predecessors had. As we move forward he will have my support and that of my Party in pursuit of the core principles we all share. Failure to do so would play into Putin’s hands and humanity would be the loser.
