To think we cannot afford to support Ukraine anymore

[Saysomething1234]

This may be an unpopular opinion but it is annoying me to no end and NC

We have a littany of issues crying out for funding domestically - NHS broken. Economy going down the drain. Pound down 20% in one year. Public services collapsing, Education system requiring re-investment, high taxes driving talent out. We can keep blaming our politicians but someone needs to prioritise where money goes - and no one is willing to talk about this

Yet we are spending hundreds of billions in supporting Ukraine in a war which has nothing to do with us. Yes we are morally supporting them but is there no amount which will be too much? We are paying both directly (through weapons and aid) and indirectly (through huge energy subsidies - last totalling north of £200bn) - we need to stop this spending, reduce energy prices, stop this craziness

How is this war something we can afford on the basis on principles and why aren't we more aggressively pushing for a negotiated settlement?

We cannot afford this. It sucks for Ukrainians but this is not UK's bill to foot.

AIBU?

Op knows well they are ridiculous if they come in with no idea of what to do and how it works.
That's why the new name, innit

can you pl elaborate. i'm interested in understanding this perspective

No, there shouldn't be. Firstly, and most importantly, on humanitarian grounds, but secondly because of the huge impact on the global economy the war is having and the continued uncertainty this creates.

I'd hope, if my home city was perpetually being bombarded, that others might want to help my plight, whatever the cost. I know cities in the. Uk being bombed sounds extreme, and unbelievable. I'm sure they felt that in Ukraine too.

I would have hoped Western Europe learned their lesson about giving parts of other country to an aggressor.

It’s a proxy war and we’re lucky we’re limited to just money

We (uk) are only spending a few billion, not ‘hundreds of billions’…

So in that context, we couldn’t afford hundreds of billions.

We can afford a couple of billion.

Because if he's not stopped in Ukraine, Russian expansionism will continue across Europe!

You either know the difference between right and wrong or you don't.

Amen. Either Russia is stopped in Ukraine or we get to fight them in Poland or one of the Baltic States. I know which I'd prefer.

Compassion and also in our (our children's) own interest.

We need to fix our country without forgetting we are also shaping the future world we (our children) would live in.

@cantkeepawayforever - that isn't what that chart says. The EU is a massive contributor to Ukraine, second only to the US. So it might look like Germany, France and Italy are contributing less than the UK but they are paying out both as individual countries and through their contributions to the EU.

In terms of the original op when it comes to energy prices surely it's basic self preservation not to buy gas from Russia at this point? Even Germany has belatedly realised this.

We've tried not getting involved when dictators invade European countries, it doesn't seem to end well.

I think it depends how long it goes on for. Russia is struggling with Ukraine so I don’t know why people are worried about expansion beyond its borders. We gave up with Afghanistan and are happy with half the population with less rights then the average dog.

And, as others have said, which bit of the UK do you consider it is acceptable to relinquish? I'd be really interested to hear your response to this question. Because that's a negotiated settlement.

Your arguments are selfish and naive, but other posters have expressed why much more eloquently than I can.

@Pothoswithasparkle That's the point - OP wants a negotiated settlement - which would almost certainly mean handing over part of Ukraine.

Western Europe has learned as you say - which is why such a settlement can't be countenanced by us.

UK should support NATO territories - which means much before anything happens to its own territory we will be involved. Here we are supporting Ukrain without being transparent to the population about the real cost of this war - if the energy subsidy@£200b can be spent without accountability for it, i guess it really is an infinite amount of money UK will stake for this (despite Ukraine being Non-NATO)

Each household is getting pay £2000+ this year (via subsidies) eventually coming out of the next generations pocket (borrow now to tax later). just. this.year.

Yes you are right we should be thinking of our own here before aiding others….I do like the Hungarian approach.

We cannot NOT support Ukraine. Failure is only going to give Putin strength. Putin (not Russia) is the aggressor.

I agree with everyone.
We can't afford to keep doing it a) It's an unending stream of money with no end point or amount. b) We are, (all of the countries supporting Ukraine), sending huge amounts of armaments which we can not keep up with replacing and , if this situation escalates outside of Ukraine, we're fucked.

We MUST keep supporting Ukraine. The lessons of 1938/39 should remain with us. Putin is as dangerous, if not more so than Hitler. He has nuclear weapons and no sense of what is morally right or wrong.

We couldn't afford it in the first place. Nothing's changed.

It's about doing what's right

It should have been stopped when Crimea annexation happened tbh.

@Saysomething1234 so which part of the UK would you relinquish if it were part of the UK that were to be invaded in a negotiated settlement?

We gave up with Afghanistan and are happy with half the population with less rights then the average dog.

Speak for yourself.

Most people who say 'we' should do something don't seem to include themselves in the royal 'we'.

You’ve read this OP and your response is “it sucks for Ukraine”

How do you sleep at night?