NEW: Admiral Sir Tony Radakin has written an explosive op-ed for The Sunday Times.
It is the first time the former chief of the defence staff has spoken since retiring last year.
He said:
💥 Andy Burnham must appoint a "wartime cabinet" that will properly fund the military. 💥 The "peace dividend" is over - and the role of the PM is now a "quasi-wartime" one. 💥 The UK is "looking like a laggard" in Nato and we are bottom of the Nato league table to meet our military commitments. 💥 Warned Burnham to avoid antagonising Donald Trump - or else the USA could withdraw its "unconditional support" for the UK. 💥 Says the next PM must "protect the nuclear deterrent."
Wartime Cabinet - Why? Which War? Where? what's changed!? The role of any PM has never been any different! The UK was a laggard, a laggard on his watch - the hollowing out from 2010 to 2024 is being reversed, it can't be done in 2 or 3 years If we have to base any policy in keeping Trump happy then the problem is Trump not the POlicy. Tell him to fuck off! What nuclear deterrent , an aging system we pay an extortionate sum for that we cannot control. Its obsolete and can we trust anything Trump has control over.
Yeah, what would he know about the military situation.
The UK has the second biggest defence budget in Europe. If the UK's military is so crap whose fault is that?
Funnily enough it’s complicated. IMHO the nuclear deterrent should be stripped from the defence budget as it’s such a fundamental cost. It’s not however Radikin’s fault. It’s decades of Treasury, top brass, complacency, the gradual, understandable time shift which has resulted in few politicians and the public experiencing war and so it not seeming “real”.
I would still take Radikin’s opinion over say, Brixian’s or Starmer and Reeves.
Radakin is just making a few quid by telling Sunday Times readers what they want to hear. That's it.
The article not a masterclass in strategic threat analysis and defence procurement planning, it's a retirement hobby.
Russia is zero coventional threat to the UK so this panicky, and frankly cowardly, rush to increase defence spending to counter a threat that doesn' t exist is ludicrous.
If the asymmetric, grey threat is so grave then spend money on law enforcement and intelligence. I wouldn't agree with it, but that at least has an internal logic that is missing from the easily manipulated Russophobe arseholes playing toy soldiers.
How about easily manipulated Russophile arseholes?
OT those spoilsports at the National Lottery have changed the notification to you have won a small prize so now there's not even a couple of hours' fun thinking I could be a millionaire.
Lib Dems face call for inquiry into deselection of election candidate ... The party has admitted it unlawfully discriminated against former BBC journalist David Campanale on the basis of his religious beliefs when he was stopped from standing in the Sutton and Cheam constituency in 2024.
A civil court in London will this week begin the process of deciding what damages and costs Campanale is due.
OT those spoilsports at the National Lottery have changed the notification to you have won a small prize so now there's not even a couple of hours' fun thinking I could be a millionaire.
I won a whole pound, with a ticket that cost £2. The economics of the AI tech bubble.
England are not showing anything like the elan that France, Spain or Argentina have.
They'll be out in the quarters or the semis.
We've got 3 players who are genuinely world class. Kane , Bellingham , Saka.
We've more athletic defenders than in a long while but sadly they lack defensive "nous" and organisational skills. The midfield pair of Rice and Anderson graft well but lack a touch of class, and we have a number of inverted wingers, christ the world is full of inverted wingers, but few of them can actually go round a player.
Rashford is decent but the rest of the attacking options are barely EFL level!
Tuchel just doesn't do it for me at all, a sullen dispiriting figure who looks forlorn and doesn't seem to have the team nor the country with him.
If I have written anything negative about Bellingham in the past I apologise. He is the only England player who seems capable of making something out of nothing.
And well done Tuchel for leaving out a right back who has won every trophy against the best players in the world and can drop the ball on a six pence and instead putting in centre backs as right backs. A Penny for Trent’s thoughts.
Ha I wrote that about Bellingham before he scored.
Never doubt Bellingham.
Those of us fortunate enough to have known from a very early age how special he will is know , it's been hard to persuade those who didn;t know how very special he really is.
In my humble opinion the best footballer this Country has produced since Duncan Edwards, and Duncan Edwards was head and shoulders above any player this Country ever produced apart from possibly Matthews and Bobby Charlton, and in Charltons case he was just iconic on and off the pitch.
Comments
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/aGYe7YvgKTM
It's a sentry gun. To kill mosquitos. With lasers. Automatically. IT'S A REAL-LIFE BUG HUNT.
...
The party has admitted it unlawfully discriminated against former BBC journalist David Campanale on the basis of his religious beliefs when he was stopped from standing in the Sutton and Cheam constituency in 2024.
A civil court in London will this week begin the process of deciding what damages and costs Campanale is due.
A party group, the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum, has called for an inquiry into the deselection.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gypnyk788o
ETA the LibDems won Sutton & Cheam with its replacement candidate.
We've more athletic defenders than in a long while but sadly they lack defensive "nous" and organisational skills. The midfield pair of Rice and Anderson graft well but lack a touch of class, and we have a number of inverted wingers, christ the world is full of inverted wingers, but few of them can actually go round a player.
Rashford is decent but the rest of the attacking options are barely EFL level!
Tuchel just doesn't do it for me at all, a sullen dispiriting figure who looks forlorn and doesn't seem to have the team nor the country with him.
Crying out for a Klopp or Guardiola figure.
Those of us fortunate enough to have known from a very early age how special he will is know , it's been hard to persuade those who didn;t know how very special he really is.
In my humble opinion the best footballer this Country has produced since Duncan Edwards, and Duncan Edwards was head and shoulders above any player this Country ever produced apart from possibly Matthews and Bobby Charlton, and in Charltons case he was just iconic on and off the pitch.