A bit of a stitch-up at PMQs, or so it seemed. The ‘opposition’ leader, Kemi Badenoch, ignored her duty to voters and spent ten minutes feeding softball questions to Sir Keir Starmer about President Zelensky. At issue was Donald Trump’s decision on Monday to withdraw military aid from Ukraine. Kemi meekly asked Sir Keir if he might help.
‘What is he doing to rebuild their relationship after a challenging week?’
Sir Keir can do nothing, obviously. Trump has lost patience with the leader of an impoverished, war-sick country whose eastern fringes are occupied by a hostile superpower. Britain has no influence either way. But Sir Keir wants to pose as a crucial member of an imaginary triumvirate that can redraw the map of Eastern Europe. And Kemi did all she could abet this fairytale.
Sir Keir mentioned his recent contacts with the White House. ‘I’ve spoken to him, I think, three times since then on the telephone,’ he said.
‘I think’ was a great touch – as if he can’t remember how often he talks to the world’s most powerful man. Kemi threw in a token question about US-UK trade.
‘Have talks on a US trade deal begun?’ she asked blandly. Sir Keir replied, equally blandly, that ‘our teams’ are due to sit down and talk. Kemi answered, ‘I’m glad the prime minister has confirmed that those talks are starting.’
She’s killing us with blandness. And trade deals are a pure smokescreen. The UK doesn’t need a ‘deal’ to buy iPhones, Hollywood films or Facebook ads from America. But it suited Kemi to play the role of Sir Keir’s fawning and submissive crony today. She was supported by throngs of MPs desperate to bash Russia and to pledge support for Zelensky.
The SNP’s strolling troubadour, Chris Law, called the Russian leader a ‘murderous, lying dictator.’ He said that seized Russian assets should be reallocated to Ukraine. ‘Putin must pay as the aggressor.’
Sir Keir agreed with the SNP’s position. And he offered to bung Zelensky lots of cash sequestered from Russia. ‘We’re using the profits, that is, the interest on the assets to help fund Ukraine,’ he said.
Another nationalist MP, Liz Saville Roberts of Plaid Cymru, accused Trump of ‘cosying up to Putin and making Europe less safe.’ She urged Britain to buy more guns and bombs. Germany, she said admiringly, has suggested a ‘€500 billion fund that will strengthen Europe’s future.’ She urged the Westminster parliament to follow suit.
This was amazing. Two nationalist MPs dropped their long-term commitment to independence. Instead they want the UK – which they detest – to arm itself to the teeth and enact their crazy foreign policies in Eastern Europe. If their sixth form fantasies weren’t so ludicrous they’d be tragic.
Sir Ed Davey, of the Lib Dems, outdid both with his military zeal. Yesterday, he said, he visited the army reserve centre in Kingston. Today he was all fired up with gung-ho rhetoric. He warned Sir Keir against ‘further emboldening Putin’ and he questioned the reliability of our alliance with Trump. Sir Ed obviously can’t wait to parachute British troops into eastern Ukraine and he asked Sir Keir what back-up plans were in place. Sir Ed is the type who has a map with pins and ribbons on his kitchen wall.
Labour’s Kim Johnson changed the subject at last. Ignoring Zelensky, she submitted a claim for free cash on behalf of her Liverpool constituents. Back in 1985, she said, the Swann report into education concluded that a few British schoolchildren were ‘subnormal.’ After 40 years, she has yet to recover from this discourteous remark and she wants compensation for every victim. Not only that, she demands a full public inquiry as well. No doubt she will feature as the star performer in the witness box. After a barrage of pro-Zelensky toadying, it was a joy to see a Labour MP doing what the Labour party does best: fleecing taxpayers while posing as the guardians of public morality.
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