On the day when NATO is celebrating bombs and promising us many more of them:
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
There are links to this blog's glossary in the above post that explain technical terms used in it. Follow them for more explanations.
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Buy me a coffee!
If the EU wants to free itself from Russian fossil fuel – then renewables are the way forward. At the same time, it has not even started simple actions to strangle Russia (Baltic and checking all ships entering/existing – “are your papers in order, do you have the correct insurance, is the ship seaworthy etc”.)
All that said, most renewables are not funded by govs, their role is to decide what is built, when & where, hold auctions and offer symmetric CfDs (bolt in elec market reform and you can pull the CfD). Most of the funding (80%) is via debt – banks/bonds etc.
The weapons? EU has been free riding for 50 years? whilst still having far too many diff weapons platforms (doing the same thing). Time for coordination – which would cut costs. Time to ask – what exactly is the point of strategic nukes? (Trident etc).
Ideally, regime change in Moscow would deliver the peace needed – coupled to a democracy. Joke is, Iran has a more functioning democracy than Russia.
The EU is also substantially on the hook for Russian uranium. And in the U.K., the giant nuclear plant at Sizewell B runs 100% on imported Russian uranium fuel, not something broadcast widely by energy ministers.
Really?
Wow
Source (please send to me…)
Once again Russophobia raises it head. The world now knows following the indescribable massacres in Palestine the mortal danger to the whole human race is America and its acolyte Israel. Those of us who have studied the words of truthful ,wise commentators like Chomsky, Pilger, Seymour Hersh, Ritter, Robert Fisk , Jeffrey Sachs and many more incredibly brave writers and broadcasters have understood this all our adult lives Russia is not and never has been the danger . Regime change in Moscow is a fantasy. Those who have experience of Russia say the public are totally behind Putin. The country has experienced rising standards which makes them more successful than the UK. See IMF. Even now there are those who try to deflect responsibility away from the vile criminals who have ruled the world since 1945. The recent attacks on nuclear installations in Russia and Iran p ut the world in imminent danger of annihilation. The USA openly plans to destroy Russia ( see Brzezinski) . Divide it into several states . That will enable war on China. Iran has allied itself with both powers for its security. Ten years ago it signed a treaty promising not to develop nuclear arms. Trump tore it up three years later. Now Iran is blamed for the ending of the treaty. China is still the prime target . The media is desperately to deflect the truth of the matter. Our own right wing papers and TV present the most ludicrous lies and disinformation to the public. Alas, their lies have been rumbled. This government has no public support for war. No backing for eye watering defence spending. If Starmer and the establishment try to send our military to war the civil unrest will be something never seen before. No war fighters.
I think you are too generous to Russia. I am not being Russiaphobic: I am just saying I see nothing better there, and there is no pretence of democracy, whilst windows appear to be very dangerous. Let’s be clear about that.
“The recent attacks on nuclear installations in Russia” I think you meant Ukraine………….Chernobyl & the containment dome that erm… Russia bombed.
“The USA openly plans to destroy Russia ( see Brzezinski) . Divide it into several states . That will enable war on China.”
eh? Russia is already @ a small scale ceding territory to China (teritory which it seized in the 19th cent). Dividing Russia into serveral states – pray how does that “enable” war on China?
Colin Thuberon – Amur (2019) – shows you how much the Chinese & the Russians love each other (& in fairness to the author – he speaks Chinese and Russian). China is thirsting for revenge wrt the land seized by Russia.
“The recent attacks on nuclear installations in Russia” I think you meant Ukraine………….Chernobyl & the containment dome that erm… Russia bombed.
“The USA openly plans to destroy Russia ( see Brzezinski) . Divide it into several states . That will enable war on China.”
eh? Russia is already @ a small scale ceding territory to China (teritory which it seized in the 19th cent). Dividing Russia into serveral states – pray how does that “enable” war on China?
Colin Thuberon – Amur (2019) – shows you how much the Chinese & the Russians love each other (& in fairness to the author – he speaks Chinese and Russian). China is thirsting for revenge wrt the land seized by Russia.
The UK’s GDP is currently about £2,500 billion. So 5% of GDP currently is about £125 billion. And we currently spend about £55 billion on defence. So that is a very large increase.
UK public revenues, largely taxes, are about 35% of GDP. And the government spends about 45% of GDP, about £1,200 billion. So that is increasing from 4.6% of public spending to over 10%. More than education. Similar to social security (excluding pensioners). Indeed larger than any other single budget than health and social security.
And much more than the Labour manifesto which committed to 2.5% by 2027 and 3% by the next general election. And indeed proportionately much more than the USA, which spends 3.4% of its GDP (about $1,000 billion).
What are we spending this on? Nuclear weapons? Pensions? More admirals than ships?
Essentially we can afford more weapons of mass destruction, but we can’t afford to look after the old, the young, the poor, and the sick.
“Tactical” nuclear weapons are a contradiction in terms. Any use is always political and strategic. Perhaps bombs dropped by planes are cheaper than ballistic missiles fired by submarines. But we don’t need both. And if we lose the bases in Scotland we need an alternative. (The alternative could be to copy Ukraine and South Africa and abandon the nukes, but I don’t see any UK government doing that. The seat on the Security Council would be next.)
Thanks
As to tactical nukes – which European country has agreed to have them dropped on themselves? After all that is what will happen – as the “Russians” roll across the Fulda Gap, and nothing can stop them except a tactical nuke dropped by a F35A flying from Norfolk, will Frankfurt volunteer perhaps?
F35A has a combat range according to wikipedia (and so likely to be an underestimate to give false security) of 1200km, although they can be refuelled in the air of course. Dig out your atlas and see where 1200km gets you in Europe.
“Labour: Turning wheelchairs into weapons”.
You should copyright that. It’s the most apt description of nu nu Labour since Blair.
That will be on Starmers Labour headstone. Can’t come soon enough.
We’d get more stability by making sure we explore solar panels, wind, geothermal, tidal, Vehicle to Grid, energy provider nationalisation, passivehaus and similar levels of domestic energy efficiency, national grid upgrade, biofuels, etc.
Once we end our dependence on foreign fossil fuels we’ll achieve more stability. Several of the above would help reduce household bills… The best way to end the cost of living crisis is to reduce the cost of living in a sustainable and green manner.
Economically and morally illiterate. Maybe Rachel from accounts needs a lesson on multipliers? But no need for govt lessons on hypocrisy – got that covered!
I’d have thought something with a lower multiplier than buying UK armaments is buying US armaments in USD. So …. Growth isn’t that important, nor poverty in the UK, nor health, nor education. And let’s protect neolib wealth streams, but not innocent Palestinians, or rule of law ….
I’ve taken a break … Think I need another.
“U.K set to purchase new fighter jets that can carry nuclear warheads”. So guns it is.
Time to renew that CND membership I think.
CND doing a protest at RAF Marham on Saturday, in case you live near there. All twelve going to be based there, as if RAF Lakenheath isn’t enough of a problem.
https://cnduk.org/buying-trumps-nuclear-jets-makes-britain-a-nuclear-target/
No doubt to keep Trump happy..
Let’s hope we never have them forced into our hands or pointed at is. Let them rot away, forgotten, in storage facilities and turn from rust to dust.
It’s so predictable yet so grotesque. Lowering the nuclear threshold makes nuclear disaster more likely. And of course the yet more predictable script – ‘ its going to create thousands of lovely skilled killing jobs’.
Purchase price of 12 F35-A could be around $1.2 billion plus millions in ongoing expenditure on keeping them flying and renting and storing the bombs. Makes digging holes in the gournd sound almost sensible.
I’m a supporter of the military, but as a tool of protection for the State, not as an expeditionary force for global interference and coercion. I do have a theory though. I believe Europe’s investment in the arms industry and putting us on a war footing is to sway us towards nationalism and patriotism. It’s about vilifying the “weak” progressive social forces that are slowly gaining traction. It’s the last gasp of the Centre to pander to the Right and fend off the Left.
I think that is entirely plausible
That’s how I see it as well. What really pisses me off is that I see this going on for many years and at the age of 73 it seems highly likely that I will be leaving this world when my children and grandchildren are under attack both economically and militarily as a result of flag waving nationalism by politicians and a total lack of integrity and common humanity by corporates.
Why is all the talk of ‘% of GDP’ ? Is it to disguise that fact that European NATO countries alone already outspend Russia by a factor of 3:1 (USD400bn vs USD150bn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_highest_military_expenditures).
I wonder what multiplier is seen as necessary to make us safe?