We are living in an extremely dangerous world.
 But John Healey’s resignation letter revealed that Starmer and Reeves are refusing to properly fund our military. It’s time to cut welfare spending to fund our defence. @TomTugendhat

For anyone who failed to understand Kemi’s message: Kemi didn’t say “yes”. She said no deal before an election, no deal during an election, no deal after an election. Hope that's cleared things up.

Listen very carefully folks. There ain’t gonna be no deal with Reform. Not ever. NIgel’s fanboys might try and talk it up. It ain’t happening. To quote Kemi. It is bullshit

RT @b_judah: Really what we’ve seen with the Defence Investment Plan is a failure to make a choice. This is why. The UK is committed to fou…

John Healey shadowed me for over 4 years. While i didn’t agree with everything he did i know he tried his best and had the interests of the Armed Forces at his heart. i know he loved the job and it will have not been easy to resign. His loyalty to his Party and PM was not reciprocated by them when it mattered and i think he was left with no choice. i wish him the very best. His resignation was one of principle.

Doesn't always happen, but on this I agree completely with @Jacob_Rees_Mogg . The article is excellent advice to any aspirant or actual PM.

Hear, hear!

Today marks a truly grim milestone: the war in Ukraine has now lasted longer than the First World War. Whoever takes over at the Ministry of Defence, I hope they are as committed to Ukraine's victory as Ben Wallace, John Healey and I were during our time as Defence Secretaries. Defence Secretaries come and go. Our commitment to Ukraine's victory must not.

John Healey, the former Defence Secretary, has acted honourably by resigning. Keir Starmer is too weak to cut welfare and fund defence - as I told him yesterday at PMQs. Only the Conservatives have a plan to put our national security first.

Remarkable quote from Healey: “I am being forced to make decisions that would reduce the readiness of our forces and increase the risk to personnel on operations, and could make our country less safe.”

Healey's resignation is far more consequential on an issue of war and peace than Michael Heseltine's over Westland. That was about contracts, this is about whether the Treasury is going to adequately protect the country. Starmer clearly hasn't the clout to deliver what the armed forces need.

Kemi Badenoch strong and unequivocal in her condemnation of the violence in Belfast.

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This is a national scandal. The strategic context on which this was based has evolved. Our partners are rearming and moving on. We have no credible or legitimate claim for leadership in the areas vital to our interests or allies’ expectations without a major, sustained uplift.

One of the things that is always overlooked about rioters is that many of them do it because it's fun. The pretended anger, like the affiliation of hooligans to a football club, is just a pretext for creating enjoyable mayhem

Wake Up Downing Street! We have to recognise the huge shift needed in how we defend ourselves. Investment is needed, an urgent focus on national resilience and changes to outdated regulation to help firms do more. Once second only to the US, we now rank 31 out of 32 NATO nations. Wake Up!

The situation inside the MoD is so bad that Britain is second bottom in a Nato league table that ranks member states based on the extent to which they are meeting their rearmament promises. The UK is currently 31 out of 32 countries on a list — which may be published by the end of the month — detailing how each country is progressing in hitting the alliance’s capability requirements. The only country below the UK is understood to be Iceland, which does not have a military. thetimes.com/article/fe3f6c3…

I asked Claude to plot the rate of defence reviews. “…crosses zero in 2045, at which point Britain achieves the Defence Review Singularity—a permanent, continuous review in which each document is superseded before publication. MoD becomes a pure review-generating organism.”

💯

Within hours of being announced as the nominee to be the U.S. Director of the CIA, I received a hand-delivered message on MI6 stationery congratulating me on my nomination. It was signed simply "C" in green ink. Legendary. I shared it with my son and even he thought I was now cool! More than that, this note, from Sir Alex Younger, Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service of the United Kingdom, confirmed what I already believed: the work that the CIA and MI6 did together mattered, that the partnership was critical, and that two leaders focused on the mission could save lives and provide tools for our nations to deter our adversaries. Alex's passing this week brought back so many memories of our time in service together. He flew to Langley to see me the day I was confirmed. We brought our two senior teams together in the UK to plan and coordinate and build in the first several weeks of my time on duty: making clear to them all that this relationship was more than special - it was critical for the security of our two countries. Alex was a remarkable intelligence partner. When we needed help, it wasn't "let me see;" it was "this matters to you and America we'll get it done." And he and his team always did. I think he knew we would do the same for him and his team and his nation. Many Americans are alive today because of his leadership of MI6, I never knew how to thank him enough. Alex became a friend as well. In the years since we both left office we would see each other from time to time. He was always so kind, so thoughtful, so smart. His deep love of his country was surpassed only by his deep commitment and love of his family. Decent and proper - and funny as hell - Alex was "C." As espionage requires, he was quiet, not attention seeking. He knew what evil was and he was ruthless in his efforts to crush it with every legal tool at his command. And he knew who his friends were and committed himself to supporting them. I miss Sir Alex Younger. He was a role model for me and a man with whom every minute I spent was valued and savored. Blessings to you Alex. Praying for you and for your family. Well done and may you rest in peace in His hands.