Latest news with #OneDecision
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's refusal to condemn Putin is ‘demoralising', says Shapps
Donald Trump's refusal to blame Vladimir Putin for the war in Ukraine is 'completely demoralising' for democratic nations, Grant Shapps has said. The former defence secretary accused the US president of 'weasel' words over his failure to condemn the Russian ballistic missile strike on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, which killed at least 34 civilians and injured more than 100. Mr Trump blamed Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, and Joe Biden for starting the long-running war despite the images of lifeless bodies, including children, filmed on the streets alongside ruined buildings and burning cars on Palm Sunday. 'You don't start a war against someone 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles,' Mr Trump said at the White House on Monday. He said the Russian attack was 'terrible' but added that he had been told it was a 'mistake'. Credit: Sumy Regional Military Administration In what could signal a return to politics for Mr Shapps, the former Conservative high-flyer went further than Sir Keir Starmer in his criticism of the US president. The leader of Mr Shapps' party, Kemi Badenoch, has remained entirely silent on the strike, the deadliest by Russian forces this year. 'I feel disgusted. The idea that the leader of the free world cannot tell the difference between the dictator who locks up and murders his opponents and invades innocent democratic countries and the country itself that has been invaded,' Mr Shapps told the One Decision podcast. Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, five years before Mr Zelensky became president. Putin then launched a full-scale invasion in 2022. Mr Trump went on to say: 'Biden could have stopped it and Zelensky could have stopped it, and Putin should have never started it. Everybody is to blame.' Of Mr Trump's comments, Mr Shapps added: 'This lack of moral clarity is completely demoralising for the rest of the democratic world…Yeah, I mean, it's a sort of weasel language. We used to hear it from the IRA.' Mr Shapps, who held five Cabinet positions, suggested Mr Trump's promise to end Russia's war against Ukraine was an 'appeasement' of Putin, and accused him of making a Chinese invasion of Taiwan more likely. He said: 'Surely you must understand that if you let one dictator get away with it, what do you think will happen when another dictator walks into a neighbouring state or one just over the water and takes it over?' 'The one thing I believe about Trump is he doesn't want China to walk into Taiwan… you're making the one thing you don't want far more likely,' he added. Mr Shapps' comments represent the strongest criticism of the American's approach to securing an end to the war in Ukraine. Ukraine's most ardent Western supporters have so far been unable to convince Mr Trump to deviate from his apparent strategy of taking it easy on Putin to maintain diplomatic channels in the hope of one day brokering a ceasefire, and then a peace deal. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Trump's refusal to condemn Putin is ‘demoralising', says Shapps
Donald Trump's refusal to blame Vladimir Putin for the war in Ukraine is 'completely demoralising' for democratic nations, Grant Shapps has said. The former defence secretary accused the US president of 'weasel' words over his failure to condemn the Russian ballistic missile strike on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, which killed at least 34 civilians and injured more than 100. Mr Trump blamed Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, and Joe Biden for starting the long-running war despite the images of lifeless bodies, including children, filmed on the streets alongside ruined buildings and burning cars on Palm Sunday. 'You don't start a war against someone 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles,' Mr Trump said at the White House on Monday. He said the Russian attack was 'terrible' but added that he had been told it was a 'mistake'. In what could signal a return to politics for Mr Shapps, the former Conservative high-flyer went further than Sir Keir Starmer in his criticism of the US president. The leader of Mr Shapps' party, Kemi Badenoch, has remained entirely silent on the strike, the deadliest by Russian forces this year. 'I feel disgusted. The idea that the leader of the free world cannot tell the difference between the dictator who locks up and murders his opponents and invades innocent democratic countries and the country itself that has been invaded,' Mr Shapps told the One Decision podcast. Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, five years before Mr Zelensky became president. Putin then launched a full-scale invasion in 2022. Mr Trump went on to say: ' Biden could have stopped it and Zelensky could have stopped it, and Putin should have never started it. Everybody is to blame.' Of Mr Trump's comments, Mr Shapps added: 'This lack of moral clarity is completely demoralising for the rest of the democratic world…Yeah, I mean, it's a sort of weasel language. We used to hear it from the IRA.' Mr Shapps, who held five Cabinet positions, suggested Mr Trump's promise to end Russia's war against Ukraine was an 'appeasement' of Putin, and accused him of making a Chinese invasion of Taiwan more likely. He said: 'Surely you must understand that if you let one dictator get away with it, what do you think will happen when another dictator walks into a neighbouring state or one just over the water and takes it over?' 'The one thing I believe about Trump is he doesn't want China to walk into Taiwan… you're making the one thing you don't want far more likely,' he added.
The Guardian
17-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ex-UK defence minister ‘disgusted' by Trump's attitude to Putin and Russia
Pronouncing himself 'disgusted' by Donald Trump's favorable attitude to Russia and Vladimir Putin, the former UK defence minister Grant Shapps said the US president calling a Russian missile strike that killed dozens in Ukraine last weekend a 'mistake' was an example of 'weasel language we used to hear … from the IRA' terrorist group. 'All anybody needs Putin to do is get the hell out of a democratic neighboring country,' Shapps told the One Decision podcast, regarding attempts to end the war in Ukraine that has raged since Russia invaded in February 2022. 'And I just have to [put] this on record: it disgusts me, I feel disgusted [by] the idea that the leader of the free world cannot tell the difference between the dictator who locks up and murders his opponents and invades innocent democratic countries and the country itself that has been invaded. 'This lack of moral clarity is completely demoralizing for the rest of the democratic world.' Shapps, 56, filled numerous roles in Conservative cabinets before becoming minister of defence in August 2023, becoming a key player in maintaining international support for Ukraine. He lost his seat in parliament last July, as Labour won power in a landslide. This month, Shapps was given a knighthood. One Decision is a foreign policy focused podcast, with co-hosts including Sir Richard Dearlove, a former head of the British MI6 intelligence service, and Leon Panetta, a former US defense secretary and CIA director. On the campaign trail last year, Trump repeatedly said he would secure peace in Ukraine in one day. Instead, he has angered allies by rebuking the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in the Oval Office; sought to extract concessions from Kyiv over access to rare minerals; and deployed a negotiator, Steve Witkoff, whose effusive praise for Putin has attracted widespread scorn. On Monday, Trump repeated his incorrect claim that Zelenskyy started the war. Though talks have been held in Saudi Arabia, the war has continued. This month has seen devastating Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities. First, nine children were among 19 people killed in Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy's home town. In Sumy last Sunday, missiles killed at least 35 and injured more than 100. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said of the Sumy strike: 'I think it was terrible. And I was told they made a mistake. But I think it's a horrible thing.' Shapps said: 'It's a sort of weasel language. We used to hear it from the IRA [the Irish Republican terrorist group, after attacks killed civilians]. I mean, it's just appalling to hear this sort of thing. It's appalling not to be able to condemn it properly.' Alluding to years of reporting on why Trump has such a favorable view of Putin, with theories ranging from admiration for autocrats to Russia holding compromising material, Shapps said: 'I think I do know what hold Putin may have [over Trump] but I mean, it is not right.' Asked by co-host Kate McCann what he meant by 'hold', Shapps first noted that Trump's first impeachment, in 2020, was for withholding military aid to Ukraine in an attempt to get Zelenskyy to dig up dirt on Joe Biden. Shapps also said that by appeasing Putin, Trump was offering encouragement to other autocrats with territorial ambitions. 'Even if you are the Trump White House, surely you must understand that if you let one dictator get away with it, what do you think will happen when another dictator walks into a neighboring state or one maybe just over the water and takes it over? Do you think that people will believe the west when we say you can't do that?'
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
My spat with John le Carré over spy novels got ‘physical', says ex-MI6 chief
A former MI6 chief has told how he 'physically' argued with John le Carré for making 'betrayal the currency of espionage' in his spy novels. Sir Richard Dearlove says he thinks 'trust and integrity' is actually 'the stronger currency'. Le Carré, the pen name of David Cornwell, was best known for his Cold War thrillers featuring the spy boss George Smiley, including The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. His novels regularly featured double agents and 'moles', and he took a dim view of the activities of the British intelligence agencies after his own cover was blown six years into his MI5 and MI6 service. Sir Richard – who was the head of MI6 between 1999 and 2004 – was asked on his One Decision podcast whether it was true that spying was 'sinister' and 'shady'. The 89-year-old replied: 'I think in reality it isn't a reflection of character, it's a reflection maybe of circumstance and that there are occasions that are unavoidable in this profession where the circumstances become sinister and individuals are forced to act in a way which is disconcerting. 'I'm always trying to defend its integrity. For example, the big argument I had with Le Carré, and I did actually physically have it with him, was that he had made betrayal the currency of espionage. 'Of course it is sometimes but the stronger currency of espionage is trust and integrity, because if you're making a betrayal, particularly of an evil empire, the people helping you to make that have got to behave with absolute integrity and trust.' The pair had a public argument in 2019, with Sir Richard hitting out at Le Carré at a literary festival. He called the author a 'counter-intelligence nihilist' and claimed most MI6 officers were 'pretty angry' with him. Le Carré responded by suggesting the spymaster was still angry about the author's opposition to the Iraq war. He said his 'cynicism', as Sir Richard called it, came from the betrayals of double agents George Blake and Kim Philby who between them had caused the deaths, imprisonments or disappearances of thousands of agents. Following Le Carré's death from pneumonia aged 89 in December 2020, Sir Richard once again criticised the writer. He called his novels a 'stain' on the intelligence service and said he had 'tarred the moral reputation of his colleagues'. This was in contrast to high-profile tributes from other intelligence officers, including Richard Moore, the current head of MI6, who called Le Carré a 'giant of literature'. Sir Richard rose through the ranks of MI6 to become the head of the intelligence service, known as C, between 1999 and 2004. His time in charge was marred by controversy over unreliable intelligence about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Le Carré became an MI5 officer in 1958, running agents and tapping telephone lines, before moving to MI6 in 1960. His intelligence career came to an end in 1964 when it was discovered that his identity had been exposed by Philby, a member of the Cambridge Five. The ring of spies passed information from the UK to the Soviet Union during the Second World War and the Cold War after being recruited while at the University of Cambridge. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
04-04-2025
- Telegraph
I ‘physically' argued with John le Carre over spy novels, says ex-MI6 chief
Sir Richard, the head of MI6 between 1999 and 2004, was asked on his One Decision podcast whether it was true that spying was 'sinister' and 'shady'. The 89-year-old replied: 'I think in reality it isn't a reflection of character, it's a reflection maybe of circumstance and that there are occasions that are unavoidable in this profession where the circumstances become sinister and individuals are forced to act in a way which is disconcerting. 'I'm always trying to defend its integrity. For example, the big argument I had with Le Carré, and I did actually physically have it with him, was that he had made betrayal the currency of espionage. 'Of course it is sometimes but the stronger currency of espionage is trust and integrity, because if you're making a betrayal, particularly of an evil empire, the people helping you to make that have got to behave with absolute integrity and trust.' The pair had a public argument in 2019, with Sir Richard hitting out at Le Carré at a literary festival. He called the author a 'counter-intelligence nihilist' and claimed most MI6 officers were 'pretty angry' with him. Le Carré responded by suggesting that the spymaster was still angry about the author's opposition to the Iraq war. He said that his 'cynicism', as Sir Richard called it, came from the betrayals of the double agents George Blake and Kim Philby who between them had caused the deaths, imprisonments or disappearances of thousands of agents.
