By DAILY MAIL COMMENT

Published: 01:02 GMT, 18 February 2025 | Updated: 01:04 GMT, 18 February 2025

Sir Keir Starmer’s apparent readiness to put British ‘boots on the ground’ in Ukraine will have sent a shiver down many spines.

With the abject failures of Iraq and Afghanistan still fresh in the memory, the public will take some persuading that military intervention in another foreign war would be judicious.

At the very least they will want to know in detail how extensive any campaign would be and what its precise objectives were.

Throwing thousands of troops into a deadly conflict zone without a clear strategy for getting them out again would be an appalling error.

Downing Street speaks of the British Army possibly playing a peacekeeping role if a ceasefire deal can be worked out between Ukraine and Russia.

But we know from bitter experience – in Ireland, Lebanon, Basra and elsewhere – that peacekeepers can quickly become targets. The risks to our young servicemen and women shouldn’t be underestimated.

To be fair to the Prime Minister, he is trying to convince a sceptical President Donald Trump that Europe is serious about funding its own defence.

With some justification, the US believes since the Cold War most European countries have shredded their military budgets, leaving Uncle Sam to pick up the tab.

Sir Keir Starmer ‘s apparent readiness to put British ‘boots on the ground’ in Ukraine will have sent a shiver down many spines

Downing Street speaks of the British Army possibly playing a peacekeeping role if a ceasefire deal can be worked out between Ukraine and Russia. Pictured: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

Downing Street speaks of the British Army possibly playing a peacekeeping role if a ceasefire deal can be worked out between Ukraine and Russia. Pictured: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

Sir Keir hopes to be a bridge between Mr Trump and the EU, persuading the former to continue supporting the Ukrainian war effort and the latter to pay more towards it.

However, he must lead by example. The British Army has been so diminished by cuts it would struggle to put even a modest combat force into the field indefinitely.

Labour pledged to increase UK defence spending from its current 2.3 per cent of GDP to 2.5 per cent but has shown no urgency in doing so. Sir Keir should show his resolve by making that happen now.

But 2.5 per cent is the minimum requirement. Most military experts believe defence spending should be raised to at least 3 per cent of GDP. Mr Trump, with typical bravado, says all Nato countries should spend 5 per cent.

Finding the money for any rise will be problematic. Rachel Reeves’s disastrous Budget, with its £40billion of extra taxation and increased spending commitments of up to £72billion across the Parliament have boxed Sir Keir into a tight corner.

Growth is flatlining because of his Chancellor’s ineptitude and further tax rises would almost certainly send us hurtling into recession. Unless he indulges in yet more ruinous borrowing, the PM’s only option is to cut the size of the state. The unions will squeal but dangerous times require politicians of courage.

Ahead of the European crisis summit yesterday, Sir Keir described this as a ‘once-in-a-generation’ moment for the collective security of the continent. It is also a major test of his leadership.

Sir Keir hopes to be a bridge between Mr Trump and the EU, persuading the former to continue supporting the Ukrainian war effort and the latter to pay more towards it (pictured, the Prime Minister with French President Emmanuel Macron at a summit with other European leaders yesterday in Paris to discuss Ukraine and security issues in Europe)

Sir Keir hopes to be a bridge between Mr Trump and the EU, persuading the former to continue supporting the Ukrainian war effort and the latter to pay more towards it (pictured, the Prime Minister with French President Emmanuel Macron at a summit with other European leaders yesterday in Paris to discuss Ukraine and security issues in Europe) 

Cultural fightback 

Echoing US Vice-President JD Vance’s withering criticism of Europe’s failure to defend free speech and personal liberty, Kemi Badenoch warned yesterday that ‘the poison of Left-wing progressivism’ threatens the future of Western civilisation.

By attacking the woke orthodoxy which trashes this country’s history and culture, she is in tune with the majority of British people, who wonder how patriotism became such a dirty word.

The Conservative Party faces an uphill task to regain the trust of the electorate, but seeking to make national pride fashionable again is a good starting point.

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DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Britain cannot defend Europe on the cheap

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