NEVER forget the name of Lance Corporal George Hooley, who this week became the first member of the UK Armed Forces to die in Ukraine since the Russian invasion.
The Ministry of Defence released a photograph of the young paratrooper where he has a beer in one hand, his dog Mabel under the other arm, and a big grin on his face.
George was 28 years old.
He was killed in what the MoD called a “tragic accident” while observing Ukrainian forces test a new defence system. Two Ukrainians were also killed in the incident.
Russia reacted to his death with their usual sneering belligerence, stating that any foreign serviceman in Ukraine is a “legitimate target”.
The tragic death of George comes in the week we were told that war is at our door.
“Be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured,” warned Nato’s Mark Rutte.
And as we look at the smiling face of young George Hooley, those words do not seem like an overstatement.
Once it was unthinkable that Russia would dare to attack a member state of Nato.
But Russian planes have flown over Estonia. Russian drones have violated the airspace over Norway and Poland. And the Royal Navy shadowed a Russian submarine through the English Channel.
February will mark four years since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.
Despite shovelling one million Russian casualties into his meat grinder, Mad Vlad has not conquered Ukraine. But he has been emboldened.
Not by Russia’s limited success on the battlefield.
But by his relationship with the President of the United States.
And that is why Donald Trump can stop World War Three before it begins.
I believe Trump is sincere in his desire for peace in Europe.
But peace will be forever out of reach if the United States continues to treat Putin’s Russia as a respected ally.
If the POTUS wants peace — and I know he does — then it is time for his hapless negotiators to stop promising to give Putin whatever he wants.
Only the American President can make Putin aware that he will never be allowed to build a new Russian empire on the mass graves of Ukraine
The American peace negotiations have been conducted by Steve Witkoff and the President’s son-in-law Jared Kushner — two real estate developers who will never be mistaken for Henry Kissinger.
It is time for Donald Trump to take direct control of negotiations.
This would be popular in America, where over 60 per cent of adults want to keep supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Only the American President can make Putin aware that he will never be allowed to build a new Russian empire on the mass graves of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky has shown himself willing to negotiate a peace plan.
It is Putin, puffed up by his relationship with the American President, who shows no will to end this war.
The worst conflict in Europe since 1945 has no end in sight without the direct intervention of the President of the United States.
Indeed, it is likely to spiral into a wider, even bloodier conflict.
President Trump could be the greatest architect of peace in our time.
But only if the POTUS starts being as tough with Putin as he is with Zelensky.
And after all, Mr President — Putin started it.
NOT SHORE IT’S RIGHT LOOK FOR BOARDROOM, ROXANNE
GEORDIE Shore star Roxanne Hamedi signs up for the next Celebrity Apprentice and poses in an outfit that looks like a Baywatch-era swimsuit paired with matching nightie.
I guess it must have been Dress Down Friday, Lord Sugar . . .
A FREE PRESS IS VITAL
MADELEINE McCann’s father Gerry tells BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he wants greater regulation of the UK Press because of the scrutiny his family suffered after her 2007 disappearance.
Our daughter was the same age as Madeleine when she went missing in Portugal.
I can’t begin to imagine the torments that Gerry and wife Kate have suffered since that day. It is every parent’s worst nightmare.
But I would respectfully suggest that the British Press have always been on the McCanns’ side.
And I would also respectfully point out that without the British Press, there are multiple scandals that would never have come to light.
From the tragedy of thalidomide to the source of the Covid virus. The grooming gangs. The Post Office Horizon scandal. MPs’ expenses.
Without a free Press, and without investigative journalism at its finest, all these scandals would have remained hidden.
As would the paedophilia of BBC star Huw Edwards.
If The Sun had not exposed his crimes, Edwards could have been in the running to become Director-General of the BBC.
I will always have nothing but sympathy for Gerry and Kate McCann.
But the last thing this country needs is for our free Press to be shackled.
Or someone like Huw Edwards to become DG of the BBC.
PEER’S A GOOD’UN
LABOUR have stuffed the House of Lords with more than two dozen new peers.
The Tories have appointed just three – but one of them is Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies, who has done more than most to stand up for female rights in sport.
“It is not fair or right to allow men to compete in women’s sport,” Sharron has said. “I am not anti-trans. I am pro-women and pro-fairness.”
The new Labour lords will no doubt sink into ermine-lined obscurity.
But watch Sharron Davies use her peerage to make sport – and this world – a fairer place.
TAKING TIK OUT OF KEIR
WILD celebrations that Sir Keir Starmer has joined TikTok – especially at Tory HQ.
The Conservatives celebrated on Instagram by compiling some of the PM’s greatest hits.
“Tiki Tok,” smiles Starmer, strolling out of 10 Downing Street with the smiling Lady Starmer on his arm. “Follow me.”
And then this stuff writes itself.
Starmer falling over. Starmer saying a bright and friendly hello – and falling over again.
Starmer promising – again and again – not to raise taxes. Starmer with Peter Mandelson – and Mandelson having fun in his fluffy bathrobe with Jeffrey Epstein.
Starmer in the House of Commons, convulsed with laughter.
And Starmer at the 2024 Labour Party Conference, sternly demanding the “return of the SAUSAGES” in Gaza.
Which should be fake news. Which should be AI-generated. But is horribly, hilariously real.
PARTY activists always choose the wrong leader.
The Tory faithful picked Liz Truss above Rishi Sunak in 2022.
Labour chose Ed Miliband over his brother David in 2010.
They chose Jeremy Corbyn over Andy Burnham, Liz Kendall and Yvette Cooper in 2015.
And when they dump Keir Starmer after the local elections in May 2026, they will probably choose between Ed Miliband or Angela Rayner – both beloved by Labour members, although not so much in the real world.
Who would be worse? Green zealot Ed or Angela, sweetheart of the dole queue? Tough call!
But you can bet your life that is who the comrades will choose.
TWENTY-FIVE years after Fatboy Slim first grafted the Keith Richards’ riff from Satisfaction on to his own Rockafeller Skank, the Rolling Stones have finally given him permission to use the sample for commercial release.
A quarter of a century seems like a long time to wait.
But Keith Richards and Mick Jagger first met at Dartford’s Wentworth Primary School in September 1950 – a scarcely credible 75 years and three months ago.
So, if you are a Rolling Stone, 25 years is practically the blink of an eye.
SOPHIE Kinsella, the author of the bestselling Shopaholic series, has died of brain cancer at the tragically young age of 55.
Sophie was a storyteller of genius. In just a few words last October, she bravely summed up what she – and her family – were going through.
Sophie’s incurable brain tumour affected her memory, and every day her husband Henry had to remind her of her illness.
“He had to tell me over and over this bad news – ‘You’ve got cancer and it’s incurable’,” she said. “I think that’s where he showed his greatest love for me.”
Sophie Kinsella was truly a brave, brilliant woman who was beloved by millions. Her books will be read forever.
