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Comes the hour, come on the man.
Keir Starmer, leader of a Brexit Groot -Britain for which he did not vote, is now that he leads Europe's efforts to strengthen Ukraine after the shameful treatment of Donald Trump of President Zensky in the Oval Office on Friday.
For a prime minister without earlier experience with defense, foreign policy or geopolitics, he has proved to be a remarkably fast student.
In the midst of the unrest that goes through the normality in Trump world, he has remained steadfast in supporting Ukraine – while still trying to stay brave in Trump's good books.
Even when the British political mainstream ran back from Trump's bullying behavior, Starmer told the Lower House yesterday: “We have to strengthen our relationship with America.” It was the right thing for a British prime minister to say what absurdities nowadays come from Washington.
Decisive
NATO is shaking. It may not survive Trump in the White House for another four years.
But if the most successful military alliance that the world has ever seen is to be sent to the garbage can of history, then it must be clear that Trump was the murderer – and that Great Britain did nothing to push America away.
In contrast to political pygmies such as Lib DEM leader Ed Davey and other more exciting blowhards on the backbenches of the Commons, Starmer realizes that.
It was heartwarming to see our Prime Minister Zolensky hugging when he arrived directly from his verbal punishment in the White House on our coasts, Andrew Neil writes
That is why he is suddenly in a crucial position: the only leader who can collect European support for Ukraine and with sufficient influence in Washington to have the chance of keeping Trump on board.
Other world leaders quickly clocked the new meaning of starmer, and that is why 19 of them came to London on Sunday to map out a way in a world in which America withdrew.
He has improved his credibility because he not only chosen his words carefully, he also acted with impressive determination and conviction.
A Labor Prime Minister who is willing to raid the international auxiliary budget to pay for our rearmaking is clearly a country above the party or party politics.
Of course, the increase in defense expenditure from 2.3 percent to 2.5 percent he announced last week is not long enough. But there is a good reason to believe that it is just the beginning and that he strives for 3 percent.
The National Wealth Fund must be tapped to strengthen the defense of the empire. At a certain moment, the Prime Minister will realize that the billions wasted by energy secretary Ed Miliband in his meaningless search for Net Zero would be much better spent on rebuilding our army, and offer much more popular support.
In an indication of the upcoming military expenditure, £ 1.6 billion has been assigned to Thales in Belfast to produce more than 5,000 air defense missiles for Ukraine. Even the unlawfully obtained profit of Russian oligarchs must be mobilized in the Kyiv case.
All very satisfying substance to be with the strong words of support for our defense and Ukraine. But symbolism is also important in times of national danger, and it was heartwarming to see our Prime Minister Zolensky hugging when he arrived directly from his verbal punishment in the White House on our coasts.
Great -Britain and France would lead a peace force – a “coalition of the willingness,” Starmer calls it – with boots on Ukrainian soil
The grim reality is this: Europe gets together, whether it wilt and dies
There was something deeply disturbing about the treatment he had to endure. A concept-avoiding president who eliminates a brave war leader for standing up for his country against a brutal dictator. And playing Muttley to Trump's dick coward, a vice president who knows nothing about Ukraine (could he even find it on a map?) Getting the bump because Zensky dared to explain how Putin was taken over every deal he has closed.
Compare that with the civilized, compassionate, restrained way in which our own head of state, King Charles, welcomed Zensky on Sunday afternoon. It was a beautiful gesture. I am sure that for many people it has generated a new pride of Great Britain. It certainly did it for me.
So far, so good. Now comes the most difficult part. A kind of peace plan for Ukraine takes shape after the meeting of leaders from Europe, Canada and Turkey, largely sculpted by starmer and President Macron of France.
But it is loaded with difficulty and danger.
Macron first wants a cease -the fire in the air and at sea. If that applies a month, it would stop -the fire to cover the front lines on the ground. Great -Britain and France would lead a peace force – a 'coalition of the willing', Starmer calls it – with boots on Ukrainian soil. Zensky should sign that mineral rights with America that he had to sign on Friday.
Even the British and French have not yet been agreed over all the details, but there is a unanimity of the most crucial aspect of all: it depends on an American guarantee for air coverage and extensive help in the many areas shooting: information collection, satellite surveillance and reconnaissance, air defense and heavy air defense.
Nightmare
Nobody knows if Trump would agree with this. The signs are not encouraging. Yesterday we learned that the American Minister of Defense Pete Hegseeth ordered our cyber command to pause offensive operations against Russia.
Trump's Court Jester, Elon Musk, endorsed a social media post on the weekend that argues for the withdrawal of the US from NATO.
Some officials indicate that Trump is no longer willing to deal with Zensky. As I write, the word from Washington is that he even approaches about the cancellation of all American help for Ukraine, immediately in force. In which case, the European cease-fire-plun plan would be stillborn. Where we would go there is a gamble.
The Kremlin is starting to wonder aloud whether America or Europe has a peace plan, in contrast to just a plan for a cease -the fire.
And in my opinion it is very unlikely that Putin would agree to any deployment of NATO troops on Ukrainian soil, even as peace -enforcers, with or without American guarantees.
In some respects that is his worst nightmare.
As far as Great -Britain is concerned, we have to think long and hard before we place our troops on a front line opposite Russian troops. Even with his enormous work majority, Keir Starmer might have difficulty getting that through parliament.
Anyway, Europe has to prepare for the worst: that we no longer look at a NATO in which Europe rightly pays much more of its honest share, but on a NATO without America.
Grain
Starmer hopes to avoid this, but he knows that everything is possible with Trump in the Oval Office.
The challenge for Europe is huge, given the recent history in which it is very poorly ruled by leaders such as Angela Merkel and is now in a soft but steady economic decline, with a disastrous aging demography and an eroded army.
The bill to free Europe from the American military dependence has been placed by one think tank for £ 500 billion. Europe may have neither the grit nor the means to stump. But what is the alternative?
America is in the grip of an isolationist worldview under Trump-Vance-Musk, and much more than just Ukraine is at stake.
In Trump's Orwellian Realpolitik, China dominates a large part of the Pacific, Russia dominates Europe, especially the east, and the American rules Supreme in North and South America, including Canada and Mexico.
Not so much brave new world as a return to a brutal old world of power politics and perhaps correct.
It is not a world in which Great -Britain, or the continent of which we are part, probably remain free and bloom.
So the grim reality is this: Europe gets together, whether it wilt and dies. I suspect that Starmer, in his new role as a budding student, already understands that.
