ANGUS MACINTYRE: We ignore history's lessons at our peril - dictators do not stop
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The war in Ukraine is now just a few months shy of entering its fifth year.
As an officer who completed tours in both Afghanistan and Iraq, I can honestly say this is the most intense and brutal conflict of my lifetime.
It has resurrected the sort of industrial warfare most of us in Europe thought belonged to the first half of the 20th century, with entire towns and cities reduced to rubble by sustained artillery bombardment on a huge scale.
As Nigel Farage has remarked, Vladimir Putin is now like a cornered rat – reckless, aggressive and unpredictable.
And it’s not just Ukraine in his sights. He goads us by sailing his destroyers through the Channel right under our very noses, mapping our vital undersea cables to sabotage them at any moment and authorising cyber attacks on our hospitals.
Here in Britain, where our own military stocks desperately need replenishing, voters ponder why we should continue to assist them.
It is a fair question. But I would raise another.
What would happen if Putin’s tanks rolled further through Ukraine?
As Nigel Farage has remarked, Vladimir Putin is now like a cornered rat – reckless, aggressive and unpredictable
Because make no mistake, anyone who thinks that defeat for Ukraine would mean President Putin’s military ambitions would end there are kidding themselves.
History teaches us painful lessons that we ignore at our peril. Dictators do not stop if you simply acquiesce.
Should he succeed in Ukraine, what’s to say he wouldn't seek a buffer zone from the West similar to the one the Soviet Union enjoyed after the Warsaw Pact? Estonia and the Baltic states could well face renewed pressure.
Any attack on one NATO ally would then drag Britain directly into a catastrophic European war, one that is far more devastating, and far more costly, than the military aid we currently supply.
So our military support should be seen simply as an act of charity but one of strategic self-interest. Put simply, it is a hard-headed, pragmatic investment in our own national defence.
When Ukraine’s front line goes backwards, Putin’s appetite only grows. This is a man who remains deeply influenced by the legacy of the Soviet Union and Stalinist expansionism.
I am well aware that Reform UK’s opponents have questioned the party’s commitment to defence.
There have been all sorts of remarks made about Reform’s former Welsh leader Nathan Gill, who was rightly jailed for taking bribes for pro-Russian interviews. I say: good riddance.
I would not have given up a 40-year career in the military unless I knew Reform would put the British interest first.
My first act in the job has been to launch a National Security Review, in which we have already classified Russia, Iran and China as fundamental threats to the West.
When dealing with their aggression, what is required is a clear, undeniable show of strength to deter further aggression and protect our national sovereignty.
But under Tory and Labour governments, our Armed Forces have been gutted.
That is why Reform UK will accelerate defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030, rising to 3.5 per cent by 2035, rebuilding our depleted military stockpiles, restoring our ability to sustain ourselves in a conflict.
Because frankly, projecting real military readiness is the only language adversaries like Putin truly understand.
But that alone is not enough if our borders stay wide open. If, as we now know, Iran has sent spies on small boats, what is stopping the Kremlin from doing the same? That’s why ending the invasion in the Channel is a national security emergency and every illegal migrant must be deported.
The threats facing this country are severe. But Nigel Farage and I will never take a backwards step.
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