Ukraine peacekeeping talks reaching ‘military plan’ stage, says Starmer March 20, 2025 Talks on the Ukraine peacekeeping force are reaching the stage of a “military plan” aimed at “keeping the skies safe”, Sir Keir Starmer has said. The Prime Minister has said the “timetable now is coming into focus”, and that if a deal comes to fruition, the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ needs to be ready [...]
Defence: Building submarines is ‘blueprint’ for UK growth, Starmer says March 20, 2025 Building new submarines in Barrow-in-Furness is a “blueprint” for how increasing defence spending can boost prosperity across the UK, the Prime Minister has said. Sir Keir Starmer made the comments ahead of a visit to the town at the heart of Britain’s submarine-building industry. Sir Keir is expected to lay the keel for the next [...]
Reeves to announce £2bn defence boost to secure more orders from allies March 14, 2025 The government has pledged an extra £2bn to support UK defence exporters in a bid to unlock more orders from international allies. This increases the lending capacity of the UK Export Finance’s (UKEF), the country’s official export credit agency, to £10bn. The UKEF’s Direct Lending scheme provides loans to other countries, which allow them to [...]
Preparing for war: What we didn’t learn from the pandemic March 12, 2025 The health service may not have been ready for the pandemic, but the rest of government was even less prepared. As we brace for a potential war, it’s time policy makers listen to that warning, says Joe Hill Carl von Clausewitz, the Prussian general, famously asserted that war was the “continuation of politics by other [...]
Will Rachel Reeves end up being a right-wing Chancellor by accident? March 10, 2025 With poor growth and pressure on defence spending, Rachel Reeves faces having to make welfare cuts the likes of which haven’t been since the days of Nigel Lawson. But unlike Lawson, her spending plans are not being driven by a programme of reform, but by panic, says Eliot Wilson Rachel Reeves cannot have expected it [...]
Excluding women in defence is costing business March 8, 2025 Western defence has made massive strides, but the sector has a massive gender problem - and it's costing business, writes Naomi Hulme.
Rolls-Royce CEO’s pay slashed by almost £10m despite rocketing FTSE 100 shares March 6, 2025 The chief executive of Rolls-Royce, Tufan Erginbilgic, has seen his pay slashed by almost £10m despite transforming the fortunes of the FTSE 100 giant. The CEO took home a pay packet of £4.1m for the Derby-headquartered group’s latest financial year, down from the £13.6m he received in the prior 12 months. Erginbilgic’s previous remuneration package [...]
Defence spending is one thing, but does Gen Z have the will to fight? March 5, 2025 It’s not just our diminished armed forces that leave Britain vulnerable to Putin, it’s a generation raised on the idea that Britain isn’t worth fighting for, says James Price In his “Politics and the English Language” George Orwell warned against using tired, old metaphors, as they reflected tired, old thinking. But the poor frog in [...]
Tory MP warns UK should ‘consider possibility Trump is a Russian asset’ March 4, 2025 A Conservative MP has warned the UK should “consider the possibility that President Trump is a Russian asset”. Graham Stuart, a former Foreign Office minister, posted the remark on X, formerly Twitter, after the US President halted military aid to Ukraine. Overnight, the White House suspended delivery of ammunition and other equipment to Kyiv after [...]
Reform UK overtakes Labour in CityAM poll for first time March 3, 2025 Reform UK has overtaken Labour on voting intention for the first time in CityAM‘s monthly tracking of UK voters. Reform came top of the monthly voting intention tracker with 27 per cent, versus Labour’s 24 per cent and the Conservatives’ 23 per cent, according to the poll by CityAM Freshwater Strategy poll. The [...]