Ukraine Two Years on, Tory Hard Right Blues

Two Years into the ‘Special Operation’

This weekend marks a grim anniversary; it’s now two years since Russian forces invaded Ukraine under the guise of a so-called ‘special operation’. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians and Russians have died in a war that Putin expected would be wrapped up after a few weeks. The conflict has rightly seen Volodymyr Zelenskyy become a global figure of resistance and his enemy, Vladimir Putin, being presented in stark terms, that of a coldblooded dictator. A new frontline has opened up between Western Democracy and Russian Despotism. This year could be crucial in who wins out and whether Moscow will become the dominant power it so desperately wants to be,

The extent of Putin’s tyranny should surprise nobody. The recent murder of Alexei Navalny has once again exposed both the ruthlessness and the precariousness of the latter-day Tsar. Navalny was an incredibly brave man to return to his fate and has laid down a marker to become a martyr figure in the struggle for Russian freedom. The killing of this man was sadly predictable; this is how Putin deals with his political opponents. The Russians who are happy with Putin will never be won over, but his support may not be as solid as he thinks.

The prospect of a Trump victory in November’s US Presidential Elections has already sent shivers up the spine of Zelenskyy and NATO. Once again it seems that the former President is on Putin’s side and if not an actual direct report to the Kremlin, someone so corrupted as to surely count as an agent of influence under any fair definition. The US judicial system may catch up with him before November but prior to that he is as much a menace as ever. He is already the hand behind military aid to Ukraine being blocked by Congress and will concede everything to Putin should he win against Biden.

As mentioned, the reaction of the EU and NATO has been one of increasing alarm, particularly from those countries bordering Russia. The key issue is Article V and the nuclear umbrella. Trump is already on record as being unwilling to respect collective defence and his recent throwaway remark about encouraging Putin to invade has been taken with utmost seriousness. Congress has voted that a President can’t leave NATO without their agreement, but the former President can do cataclysmic damage without breaking this resolution. It is a time of existential angst for the Atlantic alliance.

And that is why – once again – this is a make or break election in the USA. Biden is old and seemingly tired but is a decent man and, at this late stage, is still the marginal favourite to return to the White House. As stated ad infinitum though, it should not be this close for comfort. The next few months will provide many moments of tension and anxiety. Ukraine deserves better. It deserves to be fully armed and resourced, and Biden, not Trump, is committed to doing that, the one saying ‘Slava Ukraini!’

Tory Hard Right Drift

The Conservative Party is in the Bad Place. Recent remarks by Lee Anderson, Suella Braverman, and Liz Truss have them embroiled in controversy holding them up as a movement increasingly in the grips of right wing ideology. Language that would have been unimaginable pre-Brexit is casually bandied about and/or deliberately aimed to divide and wound. Rishi Sunak is either unable or unwilling to rein in his extremists. The Tories are heading for a massive electoral defeat but how unedifying is their progress in the run up to that. In the words of Theresa May, they’re showing themselves to be the ‘nasty party’.

The hope is that Lee Anderson will hopefully disappear into obscurity fairly quickly. Sadly, he’ll probably become a ubiquitous fixture on right-wing media. His cack-handed attempt to link Sadiq Khan with Islamic extremists meant that even Tory Central Office couldn’t support him anymore and he had to go. But what about Suella Braverman and Liz Truss?  The former – surely one of the vilest people in politics – claimed that ‘Islamists are now in charge of Britain’ whereas the latter – definitely one of the most stupid people to ever have been Prime Minister – spoke with January 6^th Insurrectionist and neo-fascist Steve Bannon and said she was a victim of the deep state. And the Tory reaction? Crickets.

Which brings us to the legacy Rishi Sunak is choosing to leave for himself. He could’ve taken the high moral ground and shown himself to be a unifier. He had a brief chance when he fired Braverman and appointed Cameron to the Foreign Office. But either through fear or lack of conviction, he chose to triangulate, and to continue to appease the ‘speak your brains’ faction of the Conservative Hard Right. His will be a legacy of failure of leadership and character and the small credit he deserves for replacing the hapless Truss will be forgotten, buried under a Labour landslide.