Latest news with #PaulMason
New European
3 days ago
- Business
- New European
Britain enters a new nuclear age
Alongside an ambitious plan to build up to 12 new attack submarines, and to create jobs in six new ammunition factories, one of the most striking commitments is to enter discussions with the USA aimed at 'enhanced participation in Nato's nuclear mission'. This innocuous sounding sentence represents a big change in nuclear posture. Make no mistake: today's Strategic Defence Review marks the start of British rearmament. Not only does it signal the UK's commitment to increase defence spending to 3% of GDP, but to a type of spending designed to enhance the UK's strategic clout in the world. At present, only Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands host US-owned tactical nuclear bombs, with their aircraft designed to be 'dual capable' of delivering such bombs on target. The UK, which lacks tactical nuclear weapons, could now volunteer to do likewise, but would need to buy a different variant of the F-35 combat aircraft than the one that is flown from the Royal Navy's carriers. That would be a major change in nuclear policy – because the British deterrent has, since the 1990s, been strategic-only. As I've argued here before, we need a wider range of options because Putin is now making regular threats to use nukes against Nato, and tactical nukes against Ukraine – so it makes sense to place more of Nato's collective nuclear armoury closer to the front line, and distributed among a larger number of allies. Over and above deterring Russian aggression, almost everything Labour has announced today looks designed to achieve three things: to boost Britain's influence among its allies, to deliver high skilled jobs to places where they are scarce, and to get ahead of the game in the military technologies of the future. These don't only include drones – though the spectacular Ukrainian strike on Russia's strategic bomber fleet on Sunday shows that we've hardly even begun to understand their power. The technological arms race is now focused on niche areas of science – like nanotech, materials and quantum computing – and Labour, to its credit, has understood that it in any conflict with Russia it is the science labs of Oxbridge, Imperial and Edinburgh, not the 'playing fields of Eton', that might be decisive. Suggested Reading We must take a nuclear leap into the unknown Paul Mason For the armed forces, often bound by tradition and prone to inter-service rivalry, making the SDR work will be a challenge. Because in every domain of warfare – land, air, sea, space and cyberspace – they face the same problem: they are running decades-old kit designed for an era when Britain could choose which wars it fights, while at the same time moving to a completely new, digitally enabled way of fighting, in which technological change never stops. In this context, faced with a Russia that has turned itself into a war economy, and itself learned to innovate rapidly – deterrence comes down to showing Putin that our own industry, science and digital technology base could crank itself up to speed, and indeed surpass what Russia itself could achieve. For me, the most basic task of the SDR was to assess the scale of the Russian threat and offer the electorate an honest proposal of how to meet it – within our means. Though it might sound simple to achieve, it was not achieved at any point during 14 years of Conservative government, above all after 2020, when Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings declared a 'tilt' of security priorities towards Asia, while systematically underfunding the ministry of defence. Labour reversed that stance, declaring from day one that its priority is: 'Nato First'. The SDR places maritime warfare as the highest priority and designates the Atlantic and the Arctic as the UK's prime areas of interest. There's been a row today over the precise form of words Keir Starmer is using – describing the 3% target in the 2030s as an ambition. I think it's clear that Labour means to find the money to achieve that – but it stands way outside the term of UK fiscal forecasting, and no chancellor would allow it to be stated as a firm commitment outside of a budget statement. The real question with the SDR is: do the capabilities match the threats? The answer is: only if you believe Russia can be deterred through Nato remaining cohesive and the UK leading an enhancement of continent-wide nuclear deterrence. If it cannot, then 3, 4 or even 5% won't be enough. In 1939, after seven years of rearmament, Britain's defence budget was 9% of GDP – and once war broke out it rose above 50%. Today's focus on the big stuff – submarines, which are the capital ships of the 21st century, and a £15bn upgrade to nuclear warheads – reflects Starmer's determination for this country to avoid any impression that it wants to be 'Little Britain'. With a cash-strapped treasury, it is a decision to spend on what's strategic, and rely on allies for that which is not. There is even the promise, thinking long term, to specify within this parliament a replacement for the Dreadnought submarines, currently being built at Barrow: and they don't even go out of service until 2050. I would like to have seen more spending and faster – above all because defence industrial investment is one of the surest ways to boost growth and social cohesion in communities that have seen too little of it. But until Labour can win the argument with the British people that they need to pay more tax, and tolerate more borrowing to fund defence, progress is going to be incremental. That, in turn, will depend on the outcome of Ukraine's peace negotiations with Russia. If they fail – and that looks likely – people may wake up to the fact that the prospect of endless war on our doorstep requires a change of attitude to defence. In that sense, the SDR was the start, not the end, of something.
BBC News
4 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Plans to turn a former Hoddesdon police station into flats agreed
Planning permission to convert a former police station in a town into flats has been Borough Council's planning committee unanimously agreed to the plans for the building in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire at a meeting on 20 the 1960s-built police station closed, the site on the west side of the High Street has been used by the Teens Unite charity, by a café, and a second-hand clothes and book member Paul Mason described the plans as a "big improvement" on the current state. The building, which is no longer owned by Hertfordshire Police, will be extended as part of the work to turn it into 27 two-bedroom flats with most of them having an en-suite as well as a main to the Local Democracy Reporting Service it will now reach a height of four storeys, and include private balconies and terraces as well as communal gardens. Access will be from Woodlands Close, and there will be a total of 30 car parking spaces for the that is below the 54 expected spaces under the council's parking standards, officers noted that the site had "constraints" and that it was "within easy walking distance to bus services."The applicant's agent said: "The site presented us with a fantastic opportunity to refurbish and extend the existing building with an attractive, modern landmark building."Officers said the application would "promote an effective use of previously developed or brownfield land in meeting the need for new homes in a sustainable location". Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Telegraph
06-05-2025
- Telegraph
You Be the Judge: Crime & Punishment, review: Anne Robinson returns to take on our flawed legal system
A drunken thug kills a complete stranger by beating him to the ground during a night out. A climate change activist disrupts traffic by scaling the Dartford Crossing to unfurl a Just Stop Oil banner. One of these crimes is worse than the other. Yet both men were sentenced to near identical jail terms, and the killer – Steve Allen, who admitted the manslaughter of banking chief Paul Mason in London's West End – served less than a year in jail. The court heard that going through two trials had left Allen suffering from PTSD. Boohoo. It would be laughable if it wasn't so insulting to the victim. These two cases were featured in You Be the Judge: Crime & Punishment (Channel 5), a clever programme inviting us to compare the sentence we deem fair with the actual sentence handed down in court. Four panels also gave their assessments, made up of retired judges, retired detectives, ex-cons and victims' families. What could have been a tacky experiment was well-made and informative. The redoubtable Anne Robinson hosted proceedings, arms crossed, making a welcome return to television for the first time since Countdown. Two other cases were as shocking as that of Mr Mason: the murder of A-level student Ellie Gould, throttled then stabbed 13 times in her own home by her former boyfriend; and the deaths of Frankie Jules-Hough and her unborn baby, killed by a driver filming himself doing 123mph on the motorway. Ellie's murderer received a mandatory life sentence but with a minimum term of just 12-and-a-half years. The killer driver, who also left Frankie's two young children in a coma, got 12 years too (later increased on appeal). And guess what? His defence also put forward PTSD as a mitigating factor. Killing people is terribly hard on the nerves, you see. Nearly three-quarters of us think sentencing is too lenient, and these cases certainly bolster that view. But what made the programme so valuable was the way that it explained in detail how judges arrive at a sentence, a process with which most people are unfamiliar. They are not plucking the years from thin air: they must take into account the minimum and maximum terms laid out in sentencing guidelines, the percentage of time that must be knocked off for a guilty plea, and the way both aggravating and mitigating circumstances can add to or reduce the term. Some of this mitigation ranges from the dubious to the pathetic. Age can be a factor. Lawyers for Adil Iqbal, the speeding driver, pointed out that he was only 22. As Frankie's grieving partner said: 'At 22 you're old enough to know not to drive at 123mph.' The panel discussions went as you would expect: the victims' relatives and the detectives wanted longer sentences, the ex-prisoners knew when someone was pulling the wool over a judge's eyes and were frank (and even funny) in their appraisals of the sentencing. The retired judges were measured, because they know how difficult this can be. There were also contributions from the bereaved in the featured cases, who were rightly aggrieved. Several things were clear. The sentencing framework needs an overhaul, the system needs more consistency, longer sentences will mean even more prison overcrowding. And some judges would benefit from a dose of Robinson's common sense. 'Saying sorry after you've killed someone and pleading guilty when you know it could get you a lighter sentence?' she mused. 'I have to say I'm not terribly moved by that.'
New European
05-03-2025
- Business
- New European
Letters: With a European army we could deter Putin
There are, contrary to what Paul Mason claims, taxes – equalising rates on pension contributions, new ones for land, wealth, housing – which could fund rearmament. But it was the UK's high spending on defence in the 1950s – an average of 9% of GDP – which some would argue was at the root of our lack of investment in the economy and the lingering low productivity that led to the decision in the late 1950s that the UK had to join Europe. The subsequent and reluctant 'special relationship' with the US was intended as a short-term solution to the UK's defence/economic problems. If the UK was part of a European army with a joint UK/French nuclear component and a European intelligence agency there would be sufficient forces to deter Russia without the need for US assistance. And we do have small 'demolition' nuclear weapons specifically designed to stop Russian forces. But De Gaulle was probably right: British governments prefer the fantasy of a 'bridge' to the US. If we are serious about defence, the first step must be to rejoin the EU. Stephen Dorril Netherthong, Holmfirth No matter how much Paul Mason wants Ukraine to defeat Russia, that is not going to happen, and prolonging the fighting achieves nothing but further death, injury and destruction on both sides. A desire for justice, in the sense of an aggressor defeated, has to be balanced against the cost of pursuing this unachievable aim. It makes far more sense to recognise that, following the dissolution of the USSR, Ukraine was left as an uneasy mix of Ukrainian speakers who felt an affinity with eastern Europe and Russian speakers feeling an affinity with Russia. Ending the war now with a decision to divide Ukraine gives an opportunity for the bulk of the country to become an EU member in due course and follow the very successful example of Poland. The borders of European countries have constantly altered throughout history and this is just the latest chapter. There is no need for the provocation of inviting Ukraine to join Nato, and in fact it was a great mistake not to abolish Nato when the USSR was dissolved. That failure has contributed to the alienation of Russia and probably the length of Vladimir Putin's domination of politics in Russia. Julian Jones Bridport, Dorset Paul Mason makes a convincing case for increased spending on arms, linking it with future growth. Thus far the government has courted controversy by deciding to raid the overseas aid budget, taking aim at the sector least able to hit back at the ballot box. Governments always have to look over their shoulders when taking 'tough decisions' in order to fund hitherto uncosted spending, but this decision displays a lack of imagination on the part of the prime minister and his chancellor. Paul Mason concludes that borrowing is the way forward. I would posit the idea of an emergency arms loan levy on all taxpayers. The levy would be an interest-free loan to the government over a period of, say, two years or longer, if necessary, but only repayable to taxpayers after a period of, say, five years when there are likely to be positive signs of growth. This could be the ideal compromise between raising income tax and more borrowing in order to fund a specific, emergency necessity such as increased defence spending. Maurice Waller Seaford, East Sussex I am in Virginia, USA, and so embarrassed and concerned about my country's vice-president and his foolish and reckless behaviour in goading our emotionally fragile president into humiliating a foreign wartime leader just trying to fight for what used to be American values of liberty and democracy. My street here is filled with Ukrainian flags along with the American flag. My family were all European immigrants, some of whom fled the mafia in Sicily. It was nauseating to hear Donald Trump and JD Vance bully president Zelensky. I just want to apologise for the current leadership in my country, and tell you that, if Ukraine can survive for two more years, I think we can elect a congress that can help undo all of the damage the president and his really, really unqualified VP are doing to Europe, the world, and America. Carolyn Phillips After seeing Donald Trump and JD Vance's appalling vitriol towards the bravest leader of a sovereign state on the planet, I have nothing but respect and admiration for Volodymyr Zelensky, and nothing but opprobrium and contempt for the president and vice-president. It is time for decent people in the UK and elsewhere to stand up and reject the lies and rhetoric emanating from this US administration, built, like Brexit, on lies and distortions of the truth. Trump has a different meaning up here in the north – and, as Bertolt Brecht once wrote, a fart has no nose. Phil Green What are the odds that America will soon rename the lovely pub dish 'Freedom Garlic Chicken'? Steve Buch The long march of history will judge these two men. The president of Ukraine will be seen as a warrior who defended his country with every sinew of his being. The other guy will be seen as the narcissistic, bullying, draft-dodging New York socialite who betrayed his nation's best interests. In the end, Americans will come to revile him more than Benedict Arnold. Christopher Harrison Start using MAGA to mean: Make America Generally Abhorred. David Skinner Maybe Volodymyr Zelensky did get the dress code wrong on his White House visit, but has anyone seen Elon Musk recently? A tuxedo, bow tie, stetson and a double-barrelled shotgun down his dress pants might have got him more cred… I guess an AK47 wouldn't fit. Rex Nesbit Two deluded ancients are threatening civilisation – Vladimir Putin as a born-again Potëmkin (who double-crossed the dim-wit Joseph II and got Austria on his behalf to conquer Ukraine for Russia) and Donald Trump aping Warren G Harding (the worst US president ever, who throttled the League of Nations at birth and thereby lit the fuse for the second world war). It is time for us Europeans to pay a lot more attention to the wisdom circulating among old-age psychiatrists. It is my experience (not being a qualified psychiatrist but an ordinary physician) that mental deterioration prior to full-blown Alzheimer's terrifies those with a Trump-Putin mindset and leads to unjustified aggressive behaviour in those already prone to aggression. Trump is only a very few years younger than his father was when he developed Alzheimer's. Time for government to seek guidance from those with in-depth experience of this troubling consequence of extended lifespans. Please would our government consult meaningfully those, largely to be found in the Royal College of Psychiatrists, who can help them outmanoeuvre these ageing tyrants? (Dr) Jonathan Reeve FRCP Remember Alaska Nato may be reconfigured ('The end.. and a new beginning', TNE #425). But remember the US last put troops on the ground in Vietnam and Afghanistan, which didn't go well. The UK was more distinguished in Northern Ireland. We must get closer to Europe, especially France, which has a credible nuclear deterrent. If Trump flips the Ukrainian borders so that he and Putin can loot its minerals, the UK can align with Poland and other EU border countries and dig in. If Trump thinks the US is protected by the Atlantic, remember Alaska, which the US bought from Russia in 1867. Putin might want it back, and he might put a few missiles on the disputed islands north of Japan. Dr Chris Williams In peril I read Matt Withers' interview with Neil Kinnock on Trump and rejoining the EU ( TNE #425) with great interest. Kinnock is of course right. Were Sir Keir Starmer to apply for membership of the customs union and the European single market now, the UK would instantly have the money needed to provide foreign aid and to significantly build up our military forces. Our situation is so perilous that a quick response is imperative. With Trump talking about a third world war, Europe needs to be strongly united in the defence of Ukraine. David Hogg North Somerset On a wing and a prayer I always enjoy reading Peter Trudgill's weekly column, and admire his knowledge and insight. However, such does not appear to stretch to the liturgical history of the mid-16th century. There were in fact three Prayer Books of the period, 1549, 1552 and 1559. None were designated protestant. Furthermore, Mary Tudor was the half-sister of Edward VI, and not his aunt. Mary did not succeed Edward until his death in 1553, by which time there had been two prayer books before Archbishop Cranmer was burnt at the stake in Oxford in 1556. It was my contention in my book In Just Three Years: A tale of two Prayer Books (Chronos, 2016) that Cranmer may not have been directly responsible for the second Prayer Book. I have no doubt concerning the Cornish reaction to the first Prayer Book of 1549, and the effect on the Cornish language. Rev Canon David Jennings Market Bosworth, Warwickshire I take exception to Peter Trudgill's use of the continued description of Queen Mary I as 'Bloody Mary'. She was nothing like as tyrannical as her father, Henry VIII, and her sister Elizabeth was no saint in that regard either, with a number of religious executions dressed up as treason. Malcolm M Caporn Aston on Trent, Derbyshire The new European Following the excellent dining recommendations of James Marsh and others in last week's Letters page, I thought I should draw your attention to a new pub shortly opening in Leyton, east London. The European is a renovated old boozer with a wonderful pub sign – the EU flag! Definitely worth supporting them. Robert Smith Bewdley, Worcestershire Cheers for coffee Re: Everyday Philosophy on coffee ( TNE #425). Coffee can be as variable and interesting as wine. My local small roaster, Context Coffee near Monmouth, has afforded me many interesting taste experiences with its single-origin coffees. As with wine, terroir, climate and methods all contribute to the individual characteristics. Simon Durrant BELOW THE LINE Comments, conversation and correspondence from our online subscribers In 'The people's photographer' ( TNE #425), Jason Solomons writes of Martin Parr 'the people who make the shots so memorable are always willing participants playing along with the narrative.' I doubt that the subjects of Parr's series 'The Last Resort' thought that's what they were doing. He is an excellent photographer, but, to me, those images look like the product of a wildlife cameraman capturing other lifeforms. He's a great observer, but a distant one. J Burgess Thank you to Patience Wheatcroft for 'This laughable war on Rachel Reeves' ( TNE #425). It is classic misogyny. Trudi Clay Re: 'Why Merz must act fast' (Tanit Koch, TNE #425). This latest election in Germany was nothing more than a bout of musical chairs. The problems Scholz had of getting more money into the economy and more for defence are now for Merz to sort out. Removal of the debt brake and the proposed defence fund increase remain on the table, and as before, each will require a two-thirds support in parliament, thus, as before, will depend on the small parties voting with what will probably be der große Koalition 's increased spending proposals. Good luck with that! Henrick Hauptmann Re: 'AfD's greatest weapon now is complacency'. AfD is not everywhere, it is in the east. Look at the results map: nearly all of the former East Germany voted for the neo-fascists, while only two constituencies in the west did. This is what I feared after the reunification, that this North Korea of Europe, standing out by its collective embrace of the 'classless' society and attraction to its Soviet occupiers (Stockholm syndrome?) would prove resistant to the benefits of the free world. Now it's on the way to undermining Europe. Adalbert Jasiewicz Sorry, Matt d'Ancona (Culture, TNE #425). The final episode of Zero Day confirmed it to be a complete load of hokum.. As another critic put it, it has a lot it wants to say about the state of the world and almost none of it is worth listening to. A limited capacity to surprise and a limited capacity to entertain just about sums it up. Ann Shilcock JOIN THE CONVERSATION Subscribe and download our free new app to comment and chat with our writers
