Times letters: Healthy dose of pragmatism in UK-EU reset
Write to letters@thetimes.co.uk
Sir, The prime minister's reset is an important step in the right direction. If it goes well in practice further renegotiations will surely follow that work in the economic interests of both the UK and our European neighbours. So just for once it would be pleasing if the Tories and other opposition parties responded positively to a government initiative that acts in the best interests of the country at large, instead of reacting with kneejerk critical comments about 'betraying' the electorate ('Rapprochement', leading article, May 20). The only betrayal that took place in 2016, and subsequently, was the one perpetrated by Boris Johnson, who placed personal ambition and political capital above the interests of the British people. Kemi Badenoch would
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC News
8 minutes ago
- NBC News
Prince William says ocean conservation is a challenge like no other ahead of U.N. summit
The third U.N. Ocean Conference opens Monday, with Britain's Prince William among those raising the pressure on nations to turn decades of promises into real protection for the sea. The summit comes as just 2.7% of the ocean is effectively protected from destructive extractive activities, according to the nonprofit Marine Conservation Institute. That is far below the target agreed under the '30x30' pledge to conserve 30% of land and sea by 2030. Atop this year's agenda is ratification of the High Seas Treaty. Adopted in 2023, the treaty would for the first time allow nations to establish marine protected areas in international waters, which cover nearly two-thirds of the ocean and are largely ungoverned. Speaking ahead of the conference, Britain's Prince William said Sunday that rising sea temperatures, plastic pollution and overfishing were putting pressure on fragile ecosystems and the people who depend on them. 'What once seemed an abundant resource is diminishing before our eyes,' William, heir to the British throne, told the Blue Economy and Finance Forum in Monaco. He described the challenge as being 'like none we have faced before'. 'Put simply: the ocean is under enormous threat, but it can revive itself. But, only if together, we act now,' he told the meeting of investors and policymakers. Mauro Randone, regional projects manager at the World Wildlife Fund's Mediterranean Marine Initiative, said that 'it's the Wild West out there with countries just fishing anywhere without any sort of regulation, and that needs to change.' 'The high seas belong to everyone and no one practically at the same time, and countries are finally committing to establish some rules,' he added. The ocean is critical in stabilizing Earth's climate and sustaining life. It generates 50% of the oxygen we breathe, absorbs around 30% of carbon dioxide emissions and captures more than 90% of the excess heat caused by those emissions. Without a healthy ocean, experts warn, climate goals will remain out of reach. The treaty will only come into force once 60 countries ratify it. As of Monday, just 32 countries had. Advocates hope UNOC can build enough momentum to cross the threshold, which would allow for the first official Oceans Conference of Parties. 'Two-thirds of the ocean is areas beyond national jurisdiction — that's half our planet,' said Minna Epps, director of global ocean policy at the International Union for Conservation of Nature. 'We cannot possibly protect 30% of the ocean if it doesn't include the high seas.' South Korea, France and the European Union have championed the treaty, but most large ocean nations have yet to ratify it, including the rest of the G20. Thousands of attendees are expected in Nice, from delegates and heads of state to scientists and industry leaders. The United States has yet to confirm a formal delegation. Beyond new commitments, the conference highlights the growing gap between marine protection declarations and real-world conservation. France, the conference co-host, claims to have surpassed the 30% target for marine protection. But environmental groups say only 3% of French waters are fully protected from harmful activities such as bottom trawling and industrial fishing. 'The government declares these as protected areas, but this is a lie,' said Enric Sala, founder of the National Geographic Pristine Seas marine reserve project. 'Most of it is political box-ticking. It's all paper parks.' That criticism is echoed across the continent. A new World Wildlife Fund report found that although more than 11% of Europe's marine area is designated for protection, just 2% of E.U. waters have management plans in place. Fabien Boileau, director of marine protected areas at France's Office for Biodiversity, acknowledged the presence of bottom trawling in French protected areas, but said it was part of a phased strategy. 'In France, we made the choice to designate large marine protected areas with relatively low levels of regulation at first, betting that stronger protections would be developed over time through local governance,' he said. 'Today, we're gradually increasing the number of zones with stricter protections within those areas.' Advocates say industrial fishing lobbies continue to resist stricter protections, despite evidence that well-managed reserves boost long-term fisheries through the 'spillover effect,' whereby marine life flourishes in nearby waters. 'Protection is not the problem — overfishing is the problem,' Sala said. 'The worst enemy of the fishing industry is themselves.' The conference will feature 10 panels on topics such as blue finance, sustainable fisheries and plastic pollution. Deep sea mining is expected to feature in broader discussions, while small island states are likely to use the platform to advocate for increased climate adaptation funding. The outcome of these discussions will form the basis of the Nice Ocean Action Plan, a declaration of voluntary commitments to be adopted by consensus and presented at the United Nations in New York this July. 'There cannot be a healthy planet without a healthy ocean,' said Peter Thomson, U.N. special envoy for the ocean. 'It's urgent business for us all.'
Reuters
12 minutes ago
- Reuters
Kremlin says NATO air defence plan is confrontational and will cost European taxpayers
MOSCOW, June 9 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday that NATO's plan for a huge boost to its air and missile defence capabilities was confrontational and would come at the expense of European taxpayers who were being asked to pay to defuse a threat that did not exist. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who is pushing for members to boost defence spending to 3.5% of GDP and commit a further 1.5% to broader security-related spending, was due to use a speech in London on Monday to say that the alliance needed a 400% increase in air and missile defence. Asked about Rutte's planned remarks on air and missile defence, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "(NATO) is not an instrument for maintaining stability and security on the continent. It is an instrument created for confrontation and has so far kept its true nature disguised. Now it is showing its real nature." Peskov said European taxpayers were the ones who would suffer. "European taxpayers will spend their money to defuse some threat that they say comes from our country, but it is nothing but an ephemeral threat," said Peskov.
The Guardian
13 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Nato chief warns of Russian threat and calls for ‘quantum leap' in collective defence
Russia will remain an imminent threat to Nato even if there is peace in Ukraine and the western alliance has to dramatically increase its air defences and tank and weapon numbers as a result, the head of the organisation will say on Monday. Mark Rutte, who is visiting the UK and meeting the prime minister, Keir Starmer, is expected to outline why it is necessary for allies to agree a dramatic increase in military spending to 5% of GDP at a summit in The Hague later this month. At a speech at the Chatham House thinktank in London on Monday afternoon, the Nato secretary general will argue the alliance needs 'a quantum leap in our collective defence' and 'more forces and capabilities to implement our defence plans in full'. Critically, Rutte is expected to say 'the fact is, danger will not disappear even when the war in Ukraine ends', reflecting a belief that the Kremlin will not demilitarise even it agrees to a ceasefire and eventually a peace with Kyiv. Military planners believe that Russia will seek to retain an active and experienced army in excess of 600,000-strong and maintain elevated levels of defence spending of about 6.5% of the country's GDP, so threatening Nato's eastern flank. Rutte will first visit Sheffield Forgemasters, a nationalised steelmaker owned by the Ministry of Defence which makes complex components for nuclear submarines, before meeting Starmer and then giving his speech. The secretary general, a former Dutch prime minister, has been pushing a proposal for Nato members to agree to lift core defence spending to 3.5% of GDP by about 2035, with a further 1.5% on cyber and other related military infrastructure. Britain is expected to sign up to the plan, to be formally confirmed at the summit, as part of an effort to maintain the support of the US president, Donald Trump, who pressed for the new 5% target once he was elected president for the second time. Justifying the need for extra spending, Rutte is expected to say that Nato needs 'a 400% increase in air and missile defence' as part of a wider rearmament to maintain credible deterrence and defence. 'We see in Ukraine how Russia delivers terror from above, so we will strengthen the shield that protects our skies,' Rutte is expected to say, according to remarks trailed by Nato ahead of the speech, due to begin at 3.45pm London time (1645 GMT). There will also have to be wider restocking of weapons, run down initially during the long period of post-old ar peace and second, because so much has been donated to Ukraine to help it fend off the full-scale Russian invasion over the past three years. 'Our militaries also need thousands more armoured vehicles and tanks, millions more artillery shells, and we must double our enabling capabilities, such as logistics, supply, transportation, and medical support,' Rutte will add. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Britain has promised to increase defence spending from the current 2.33% of GDP to 2.5% by 2027 and to 3% in the early 2030s. But a week ago, Starmer acknowledged that discussions about Nato's future military needs were also taking place. 'There are discussions about what the contribution should be going into the Nato conference in two or three weeks' time,' the prime minister said as he unveiled the UK's strategic defence review, as part of a wider conversation about 'what sort of Nato will be capable of being as effective in the future'. Rutte is expected to welcome the UK's strategic defence review which he will say will 'enhance Nato's collective defence'. The document said Britain faced 'a new era of threat' and that in order to deter Russia the UK had to become, in the words of Starmer, 'battle-ready'. Last week, one of the three members of the defence review team, the foreign policy expert Fiona Hill, said the UK needed to recognise that Russia considered itself at war with Britain and that the US under Trump was no longer a reliable ally. 'We're in pretty big trouble,' Hill said in an interview with the Guardian.
