Last month, he told the Defence Select Committee that Russia has ousted terrorism from the top of the national threat list – which has big spending implications.
We don’t yet know if Russia poisoned Sergei Skripal. But there was already more than enough reason not to take part in the Kremlin’s propaganda tournament.
It’s one thing to recognise the long-term threats posed by states such as Russia, quite another to meet them.
In addition to the old ‘useful idiots’, the Kims and Castros of the world know they can rely on the aid of genuine idiots, too. We ought to know better.
Doing so would be an opportunity for us to learn – Ukrainian forces have valuable experience of state-to-state conflict, and of Russian weaponry we have never faced.
They offer the best chance to maintain influence in Syria to counter Moscow, but the question of their ongoing conflict with Turkey must be addressed.
Our plan seems to have been little more than to cobble together just enough kit to make us a Great Power on the cheap. That cannot continue.
Plus: May’s EU trials, Labour’s EU shifts – and how Russia got there before Trump by recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Well, part of it.
And we will have one for Hammond, for what it’s worth, if the armed forces are refused further cash that they need.
The President’s state visit has already been postponed at least once. Doing so again is the least worst option.
We are not up against a revived Soviet Union. At most, Putin’s state is a puffer fish – poisonous, but not as big as you think.
If a £55 billion payment to the EU to start talks on trade has been agreed, it would be an outrage. There is no legal basis for such demands.
Not surprisingly, the country remains sharply divided as to the merits of its leader – a division that can hardly be missed in this new polling.
After years of defence cuts and maybe more to come, we must ask whether the Armed Forces are properly equipped to keep Britain safe.