Richard Barrons

General Sir Richard Barrons was deputy chief of the defence staff from 2011 to 2013. In 2001, he helped set up the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, and in 2009 he was redeployed to the country to run a reintegration unit for former Taleban soldiers.

Bombshell: Why aren’t we giving Ukraine what it needs?

36 min listen

On the podcast this week: Boris Johnson writes The Spectator’s cover piece, urging the West to supply more military assistance to Ukraine, in order to bring a swift end to the war. Former commander of the joint forces Sir Richard Barrons and The Spectator’s Svitlana Morenets join the podcast to ask why aren’t we giving Ukraine what it needs?

Is the West in retreat?

15 min listen

The south of Afghanistan is now under Taleban control, after the group took the cities of Kandahar and Lashkar Gah this week. Meanwhile, Britain and America are deploying thousands of troops – as many as were there before the withdrawal began earlier this year – to evacuate expats and the majority of embassy staff. After