UK

President Trump has repeatedly threatened to withdraw the US from Nato. At home, Starmer refuses to say when the government’s military funding plan will be published, let alone how much additional money will reach our armed forces. Britain’s weakened national defence could just about scrape through times of peace, but in a period of global instability, alarm bells are sounding.

Conjuring up extra defence spending will be no mean feat. But restoring Britain’s military might, or even scraping together a dad’s army band of have-a-go heroes, requires more than just money. While civil servants battle over budgets, there’s a more existential question that few are willing to ask. Who, exactly, is prepared to fight for Britain today?

There is a one-in-four chance that the UK could be involved in a major conflict within the next ten years unless defence spending is significantly increased, a “super-forecasting engine” has estimated.

Cassi AI, billed by its founder as “just off the best forecast that humanity can make under uncertainty”, has increased the odds of war from a one-in-five chance, which it was before the Iran conflict began on February 28.

The United Kingdom has surrendered its ability to ensure its own security, leaving it at the mercy of global events beyond its control, and the nation’s Prime Minister impotently raging against U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin — who he equates — in a rant about energy security.

A few weeks back, the Financial Times declared that Britain is no longer a global power.

It’s hard to dispute that statement. In fact, the FT was only saying aloud what everybody around the world has been thinking for quite a while.