Nick Caplin retweeted
Now we can see the OBR and HMT Red book. The MOD faces a real term CUT to day to day spending of nearly 0.5% (RDEL) in 27/28. That’s money we spend on training, ammunition, maintenance and operations. So the Chancellors son in the Reserves will have even less training and ammo.
Nick Caplin retweeted
The final pieces of the puzzle are falling into place, revealing an increasingly disturbing picture of what is happening behind the scenes in Washington.
If you are still wondering where Donald Trump's hysterical attacks on Kyiv come from, why he keeps making absurd claims about "the rain that saved Ukraine," and why he responds so aggressively to journalists who challenge him, consider the analysis of someone who understands the inner workings of the White House.
Dr. Fiona Hill, a former senior White House national security official and one of America's leading experts on Russia, has offered a deeply troubling interpretation of Trump's behavior.
Trump wants Zelenskyy to capitulate.
Why? Because, according to this interpretation, the entire situation comes down to something painfully simple: Trump's wounded ego.
This is a man who promised to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours. He imagined himself receiving the Nobel Peace Prize and being celebrated as one of the greatest peacemakers in history. He envisioned a spectacular diplomatic triumph that would secure his place in the history books.
Instead, his grand promises have collided with reality.
Months have passed, the magical peace agreement has failed to materialize, and the Kremlin dictator continues to reject proposals that do not satisfy his demands. Putin has repeatedly demonstrated that he has little interest in helping Trump achieve his political ambitions.
So who should Trump blame for this humiliating failure?
Himself? Absolutely not. In Trump's political universe, admitting a mistake is practically unthinkable.
Putin? Apparently not. Trump continues to treat the Kremlin dictator as a powerful leader worthy of respect, despite Russia's continuing destruction of Ukrainian cities and the deaths of innocent civilians.
That leaves one convenient target: Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump is furious because the Ukrainian president refuses to surrender, refuses to kneel before Moscow, and refuses to sign an agreement that would sacrifice his country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
He is furious because an entire nation refuses to capitulate to an aggressor merely so the 47th president of the United States can stand before the cameras and declare himself the man who ended the war.
And now, as Hill's analysis suggests, the pressure is increasingly being directed not at Moscow, which launched the invasion, but at Kyiv, which is fighting for its survival.
The apparent calculation is that Washington, potentially supported by war-weary European governments, can pressure Ukraine into accepting terms that would allow Trump to claim a diplomatic victory, regardless of the long-term consequences for Ukrainian security.
But the price of this political spectacle is not measured in television ratings, headlines, or Nobel Prize nominations.
It is measured in the blood of Ukrainian soldiers defending their country in freezing trenches. It is measured in the lives of civilians killed by Russian missiles and drones, in destroyed homes, shattered families, kidnapped children, and entire cities reduced to ruins.
Ukraine is fighting an aggressor determined to destroy its independence. At the same time, Ukrainians must confront the possibility that some of those who call themselves allies may place their own political ambitions above Ukraine's survival.
There is something profoundly disturbing about demanding concessions from the country being invaded while treating the invading dictator as an indispensable partner in negotiations.
Ukraine did not start this war.Ukraine did not invade Russia.Ukraine is not responsible for Putin's imperial ambitions or Trump's unfulfilled political promises.
And Ukrainians should not be expected to pay for anyone's wounded pride with their freedom,their territory,or their lives.
A peace agreement that rewards aggression and leaves Ukraine defenseless is not a historic diplomatic victory. It risks becoming an invitation to the next war.
Nick Caplin retweeted
Instead of a thousand words. A six years old Vlad stands near his mother's grave. She was murdered by russians in Bucha. April 4, 2022.
Nick Caplin retweeted
Bucha. It was a genocide, recognized by everyone. They buried hundreds of people. They tortured people. We found the grave. There were, I believe, around 500 people. When we liberated those towns near Kyiv, there emerged this, you know, this kind of hatred for the Russians, right at that moment. Not even at the moment when they started the full-scale war. Back then nobody understood what it really was yet. People understood what this war was and what Putin did personally when we found those mass graves of tortured adults, children. I mean they didn't just kill them, they tortured and killed them.
When we liberated Bucha, I said, bring every journalist here. Don't touch anything, just bring the journalists. The whole world simply has to see this. Imagine finding a mass grave in the U.S. or in Britain, God forbid, with 500 tortured people, adults, kids, dogs, animals shot dead. I mean, they held hunting sprees there from military vehicles. People were running, they were shooting, just hunting, playing games. They literally just played with people, like slavery. So how, after this, can you listen to Putin? And how, after this, can you forgive?
From The Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett. (2/3)
Nick Caplin retweeted
GB Energy, the useless state-owned company established by Labour, has so far spent £14.2m on running costs — and £5.8m on investments.
Running costs included the almost £400,000/year paid to its ineffective CEO and six executives on more than £100,000 each. What any of them has done to earn these sums is one of life’s mysteries.
Perhaps it’s a blessing it’s invested so little. The £5.8m it has earmarked is for a proposed floating wind farm off the north coast of Scotland — a sure-fire loss-maker if ever there was one.
Nick Caplin retweeted
The exact opposite of what Labour heavyweight, Denis Healey, said in 1969:
“Once we cut defence expenditure to the extent where our security is imperilled, we have no houses, we have no hospitals, we have no schools. We have a heap of cinders.”
🚨 BREAKING: Andy Burnham suggests he won't cut benefits to pay for defence spending
"National security cannot come at the expense of social security"
#PMQs
Petition to stop the early release from jail of PC Andrew Harper's killers - Sign the Petition! c.org/ypW6MHC7SF via @UKChange. Gets my vote!
Nick Caplin retweeted
Former Conservative leader William Hague suggests Burnham gets an "iron chancellor" for the money he's already planning on "spraying" everywhere.
"He's got some poetry. You can paint in poetry; you govern in prose."
@StigAbell | @WilliamJHague
Nick Caplin retweeted
Andy Burnham's proposal for a Northern No 10 should serve as a warning, not an inspiration. Germany's experiment of splitting the government between Bonn and Berlin cost the equivalent of £9 billion, then saddled taxpayers with years of duplication and inefficiency. Politicians and civil servants shuttling between two capitals, duplicate offices, and, as we all know, not exactly on the cheap: first class, chauffeured cars, flights, helicopters and hotels, all at the taxpayer's expense. Hardly a model Britain should copy.
Of course the North deserves investment. But just importing a slice of London is neither respect nor value for money. Let's instead build on the North's own identity: reindustrialisation, world-leading manufacturing, science, arts, culture and transport. Create cities that stand proudly on their own, not miniature versions of London.
What do you think is the right future for the North?
Nick Caplin retweeted
The end of an era - After almost a century we said goodbye this morning to our great companion of the airwaves Radio 4 198 LW. I shall miss her warmth and crackle. Here’s the final sign off at the end of #theshippingforecast before she fell silent… ❤️ – at London, England
Nick Caplin retweeted
On the spiteful nature of Labour’s education policy, let’s revisit the single decision Bridget Philipson made that has been most revealing, as well as frustrating.
Eton and Star Academies wanted to open a great new free school in Middlesbrough to help more talented young people access the best universities - a noble endeavour backed by funding from Eton as well as a commitment to share their passion and expertise.
The last Conservative government said yes in 2023 under @GillianKeegan, in a victory for local children and parents and for a great campaign led by independent Mayor Andy Preston @centre_right_ and Conservative Councillor @MiekaSmiles.
But astonishingly, Labour locally campaigned against it. Andy McDonald MP raged against Eton as a "hallmark of stifling elitism”.
What did Bridget Philipson do when she became Education Secretary? She killed the project. Prejudice trumped social mobility.
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd6x…
Nick Caplin retweeted
I agree with Angela.
It’s time for a general election.
Nick Caplin retweeted
The Tories have crowned Rishi Sunak without him saying a word about what he would do as PM. He has no mandate, no answers and no ideas. Nobody voted for this.
The public deserve their say on Britain’s future through a General Election. It’s time for a fresh start with Labour.
Nick Caplin retweeted
The next war won't be won by armies, navies or air forces alone.
It'll be won by the country whose 19 year olds can code, whose factories can build drones in weeks not years, and whose grid stays on when someone tries to switch it off.
Industry. Society. Economy. That's the fight now.
We're not ready. And we're not being honest about what getting ready will cost.
Nick Caplin retweeted
I’d thought there was a small chance Downing Street was trying to do the right thing, but struggling against a Labour Parliamentary Party that would not do the necessary, including cutting welfare. Guess this disgraceful quote has flattened that theory. They really don’t get the peril they are putting nation in.
🚨 NEW: A Treasury source attacks John Healey for resigning as Defence Secretary
"Let's be clear on what John is asking for: cuts to schools and hospitals"
h/t @e_casalicchio
Nick Caplin retweeted
In almost any other household, if a man suddenly parked a brand new £125,000 motorhome in the driveway - and acquired other new vehicles - his wife would ask where on earth he got the money from.
