Dithering PM’s walk of strife
WHEN the going gets tough, the PM gets going . . . but only on social media.
As aerial war raged in the Middle East, Sir Keir Starmer posted a clip on TikTok of RAF fighter jets and helicopters taking off from an aircraft carrier.
But the shameful reality is that seven days since the first shot was fired, the Royal Navy still does not have a single ship in the region.
Our two carriers are undergoing maintenance and the only ship deployed to the region, HMS Dragon, is still anchored in Plymouth and surrounded by scaffolding.
It will be at least another week till the £1billion destroyer reaches the conflict zone.
In the meantime, the RAF base in Akrotiri, Cyprus, will count on French and Greek warships for naval cover.
How fitting that Sir Keir chose the music of rock band Dire Straits to accompany the 24-second military clip for his 230,000 TikTok followers.
For the dithering and politically inept PM has landed Britain up the creek with his sluggish handling of the Iran crisis.
Our Special Relationship with America is under strain and our proud Armed Forces — once the envy of the world — risk becoming a laughing stock.
Sir Keir should have seen what was coming when Donald Trump sent the first of two giant aircraft carriers to the Middle East six weeks ago.
But his serial indecision and slavish adherence to international law left Britain woefully unprepared.
Even when, predictably, Iranian missiles and drones began flying towards Dubai, he was slow off the mark.
His only success so far is to have alienated every ally involved in the unfolding events.
Shameful response
The PM’s refusal to allow US forces to launch strikes from British bases — under coercion from Energy Secretary Ed Miliband — incensed President Trump.
By the time Britain belatedly entered the fray, he had irked allies in Cyprus and the Gulf by failing to defend them swiftly enough.
As if we hadn’t suffered enough humiliation, Deputy PM David “Calamity” Lammy took to the airwaves yesterday, wrongly stating that Cyprus was a member of Nato and referring to RAF Typhoon combat jets as “Tycoons”.
The shameful response to one of the biggest military crises since World War Two betrays the threadbare state of the Royal Navy and the disreputable state of our political class.
HMS Dragon’s deployment has been delayed by defence cuts which mean the dockyard only works 9 to 5 on weekdays.
But it’s hardly surprising as Labour is more concerned with protecting the £330billion welfare bill than finding the extra £13billion to raise defence spending to three per cent of GDP.
We are witnessing the sad and embarrassing decline of what is supposed to be Nato’s second military power.
Sir Keir has at least given Trump’s critics and supporters something to agree on.
That he was right when he said: “This is not Winston Churchill we’re dealing with.”
