Ukraine Invasion: Part 43

[MagicFox]

With thanks as usual to everyone!

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Well said..

The Ben Wallace comment (whenever he said it, because I've heard various reports) is now only a problem if people want to continue to make it one.

Agree re the Ben Wallace comment, it’s a total nothing. Also from what I can gather was months ago, not at the recent summit. For all his faults suggestions that he is due to be replaced in the Autumn reshuffle are disappointing, he’s been generally very good and a solidly consistent figure through all the Boris/Liz/Rishi nonsense.

Just come up on SKY News…Ben Wallace to stand down at next election 😐

Ah shit.

The Tim Shipman Times article about Wallace has this amazing image. He recalls that Shoigu lied.

Genuinely sad (and worried) about this. I saw him speak at the February Trafalgar Square Ukraine rally and he was great.

Sad that Ben Wallace will be stepping down at the next general election 😭He is a good egg.

To be honest the chances of the stories getting re-elected anyway are tiny so we’d be looking at a new defence secretary at any rate.

*Tories

Might Wallace be planning to move to a position relevant to Ukraine work, and is standing down to do this rather than be an opposition MP?

Which of course he can't say out loud as it would show him anticipating the Tories losing the election?

Although from a Northern seat, his looks fairly safe. Given the current likelihood of a dramatic fall in the number of Conservative seats (but who knows what might happen before the election) the prospect of 5 to 10 wilderness years after being on the world stage might not appeal.

He might also risk becoming a Hague, Duncan Smith, Howard for his troubles.

Love that thought.

SKY were saying that his current seat is disappearing due to a boundary restructuring or something similar.

Many Tories are standing down now, often "to spend more time with the family..."

Personally, i believe they are being premature, a Labour victory isn't a shoe in and tbh, the UK, if not Europe, will follow the lead of the USA, the important one for Ukraine is who becomes the next POTUS?

If its Trump, Ukraine is in serious trouble, so expect full on cyber interference from the Russians to ensure at the very least a republican victory.

Mr Wallace told the Sunday Times: "I went into politics in the Scottish parliament in 1999. That's 24 years. I've spent well over seven years with three phones by my bed."

Three phones by his bed! I have so much respect for this guy, imagine the relentless stress he has been under. I think we can forgive the odd misplaced comment. He is only human after all.

Mr Wallace told the newspaper: "While I am proud to have worked with so many amazing people and helped contribute to protecting this great country, the cost of putting that ahead of my family is something I am very sad about."

He has paid a high price.

They're not being premature. A Labour victory isn't a shoo in, but a severe Tory loss is, and a near wipeout isn't out of the question. If Labour don't win outright, they'll be in coalition. Lots of Tory MPs have no functional chance of retaining their seats, and I can't blame anyone in that position for deciding not to bother. Some of those Tory MPs have been decent on Ukraine.

Agree the Russians are likely to try and interfere in the US presidential election next year. There's less point them bothering here, because support for Ukraine is a consensus issue in British politics.

He certainly deserves a break.

And he deserves to have been a Defence Minister under someone not a lightweight like Johnson or Sunak.

And I realise I wrote my first comment sounding as if I thought a Tory loss was inevitable. I don't at all.

Anything can happen. And Putin will try to make bad things happen.

I'd absolutely expect a last minute social-media drop of some FUD-generating material, which will keep people out of the polling stations and at each others' throats only to fizzle out after a few days once the polls close.

*Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt

Incumbent governments never survive this level of economic pain. There's sod all Putin can do to change that.

Fortunately, Labour also want to continue aiding Ukraine.

I'm skeptical that Trump will be able to campaign effectively, let alone win give the amount of legal pain ahead of him. Having said that, De Santis, Pence and several others are equally dangerous to Ukraine's chances. I think that is part of the reason why Boden has set up the security commitments at NATO's summit.

Of course he has... not.... and no more than a GP or a nurse for considerably less reward.

I don't like the guy, he has overseen some drastic cuts in UK defence without a murmur, so he is hardly going to say anything different, now he is likely to retire to the private sector and some huge pay offs.

I don’t really think that the jobs are comparable to be fair.

he has overseen some drastic cuts in UK defence without a murmur,

How do you know it was without a murmur? Are you privy to the Cabinet discussions?

@howpo that is a crazy thing to say. DH and I worked for many years in the NHS before starting our own care company and noone had three phones next to their bed and noone had to make round the clock decisons about national security. Excepting the pandemic (which was a whole other level in my personal experience) they are not comparable.