"Prime Minister Keir Starmer recommits to £3 billion a year of military support for Ukraine until 2030/31 and for as long as needed"

Yep, that's just silly. One thing the Tories did get right is they recognised the clear imperative to support Ukraine. There's a broad cross party consensus, like it or not.

I didn't miss it or ignore it. We still can't afford to be giving billions of pounds away.

I agree, people saying we shouldn’t do this don’t understand military operations, or geopolitics, or how dangerous Putin will be if he sees this as a success. Not to mention the future of NATO… which we absolutely rely on for our national security. I don’t think people realise how much.

We fight Putin in Ukraine now, or we fight him in Britain later.

If the West commits to freedom, we need to fully commit and that means giving Ukraine what it needs.

Russia is buying weapons from China, Northv Korea, Iran. It's paying men from Africa to fight for it. It's in talks with India and Saudi Arabia has warned the West from freezing Russian assets.

See, labour ain't all that after all.

I fully support this spend. The UK is a world leader in defence and the opposition of tyrannical governments that seek to destabilise the safety of the entire world. Good on this government for doing this.

@Arewealljustloosingtheplot its nothing to do with “typical Labour”, as the one consistent theme in politics has been the cross party support for Ukraine.

So where’s your comment about yesterday’s statements by the defence minister on increasing spending and where it would be directed within our own forces? Did you miss that? Or ignore it?

maybe spend what we can actually afford because the principle is good but we cannot be allowing the country to plunge further into debt. This is typical labour behaviour. Didn’t take long for them to start living beyond their means in order to make political statements. God knows what financial state we will be in in a few years if this is setting the tone of their approach!

That's exactly what we're doing but we need to be spending those billions of pounds on our armed forces now. I am not reacting to a single headline at all.

We cannot let Ukraine fail, for the sake of our own safety. At the moment all we have to give is money, compared to money and our kids lives if we were in a real European war.

Or we’re buying time to build up our armed forces, which is exactly what government ministers have said from the start.

God I wish people wouldn’t just react to a single headline and actually read more broadly. This same thread is posted daily now.

Thankfully those making the key decisions feel otherwise

Ukraine is losing, they're not going to win so we're just pouring money into a hopeless cause.

so true.

So what would you suggest we do then?

Beyond ridiculous and it’s only going to get worse. We can’t afford this.

Assisting Ukraine militarily is in the UK self interest. YABU OP.

I was waiting for this. It’s a thread about Ukraine.

We need to support Ukraine. It costs a bomb (literally) but they are the buffer and bleeding for it.

It is an insane amount if money and we (and our children) will pay for it. Blame Putin.

Where’s the support for Gaza?

Why only Ukraine?

We are a few years off WWIII. If we support Ukraine to win we might avert it. If we were invaded we would want and need the same support.

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
—Martin Niemöller

@FinalCeleryScheme Yes! I don’t know why people can’t see this. If Putin really decides to up the ante then the NHS, potholes, inheritance tax and the like will be the least of our worries.

With respect, do you not think we are a target already, given all that’s gone on over the last few years? The announcement from Starmer will be water off a ducks back to Russia. The mindset there is totally different.