Keir Starmer must reverse course now or lofty words about Putin will prove pointless

Economic security is national security, insisted  in the House of Commons this week. But is really making the right choices to empower our economy so we can hold our own internationally? To fund our resurgent armed forces, we need a much stronger economic base than we have now. The Prime Minister and his European allies have been very keen to rattle their sabres this week in support of Ukrainian President , but how many of them fully understand their brittle blades are most likely made with steel from abroad or forged with energy imported from the countries they are railing against? President Trump’s dramatic decision to suspend all US military aid to underlines how weak Britain and Europe really is in terms of defence.

The US accounts for almost half of all military funding going into , compared to all other spending from Europe and other nations, some $67billion compared to the $69billion from the rest of the world. European nations would need to double their donations to come anywhere close to that. Equally, the US has sent more than 4.5 million artillery rounds, whereas the EU missed its target for supplying just one million shells. The PM is to be commended for raising our own military expenditure to 2.5% by cutting overseas aid, but that won’t actually happen until 2027. So when Starmer stands up in Parliament, it is really all talk, whereas Trump wields direct influence.

in his determination to fight on may be brave but he is counting on wishful thinking from virtue-signalling Europeans rather than actual power.

Trump is laser-focused on ensuring the US generates the kind of economic prosperity that delivers real military security. It is noticeable that his comments questioning commitment to peace came in the midst of a speech announcing a $100billion investment in manufacturing cutting-edge microchips in the US.

With this one deal he will have secured 40% of all semiconductor production within US borders, creating some 25,000 high-paid jobs, and future-proofing his nation against any threats toward Taiwan. It is extraordinary that neither the nor similar liberal mainstream media did not report this amid their constant rage against Trump and yet this is the nuts and bolts of national security.

How could we ever secure such a deal when our industrial electricity costs are at least four times those of the US?

and his are quite rightly askance at the enemies within Europe, those advocates of mass migration costing us billions every year, or worse, the net-zero crusaders who are blithely unconcerned about the damage they have caused our industries and energy production. It is striking that Mississippi, the poorest state in the US, is coming close to surpassing Germany’s GDP per capita and is already ahead of Britain.

A report out this week exposes the lie behind net zero promise that decarbonisation will give us growth. Instead there has been a steady decline in electricity supply since 2000. “If an economy throttles its production of energy, it impairs its capacity to produce all types of goods and services,” says its investment bank authors, thus reducing growth per-capita and adding to household costs.

At the same time as this squeeze on national wealth comes ’ business tax rises next month. With many caterers and retailers forced to close their doors amid rising employment costs, it’s no surprise our tax base is dwindling, with fewer pounds coming into government coffers.

If Labour’s only answer to stagnating growth is to raise taxes yet again, it will trigger an economic doom loop that will undermine any lofty words about standing shoulder to shoulder against the tyrant .

Britain only ruled the waves in the 19th century because we were the workshop of the world, using our industry to fund our expansion of power around the globe. If we continue to impoverish ourselves, it is little wonder that the new economic superpowers like the US or China will continue to marginalise our importance in world decision making.

We have done this to ourselves and should be heartily ashamed of conniving in this wilful weakening of our national strength.

If the PM is honest about wanting to improve our national security, he should look really hard at measures to improve our economic security – not undermine it. At the very least, his new realism should include junking net zero.