Sword of Honour trilogy obviously

EXC: Treasury accused of reneging on deal with MoD to pay for proposed British peacekeeping contingent in Ukraine from central funds

MoD left to fund millions for Coalition of Willing from over-stretched budget, in latest example of wrangling btwn the two depts over military funding

Magyar hints at ending Hungary’s block on €90B Ukraine loan Budapest still won’t contribute to funding Kyiv, which is running out of cash, incoming prime minister says.

Hungary's government will drop its opposition to the EU's €90 billion loan to Ukraine, incoming Prime Minister Péter Magyar signaled, bringing a four-month standoff to an end.

I knew it was bad but really didn’t appreciate it was quite this bad

as.ft.com/r/db911dd6-f...

Sid knows his stuff!

Ahead of the London defence conference, Seb Wride of Public First has produced some fascinating polling on changing attitudes to security www.politico.eu/article/dona...

Extraordinary to see the UK PM putting Trump and Putin together like this, and referring to 'Trump' not 'President Trump'. A lot has changed in the last few weeks - this would have been unimaginable six months ago - and I don't see how it changes back. www.politico.eu/article/star...

Taking Leave: NATO’s Command Structure Amid US Disengagement The Trump administration’s disengagement from Europe has spawned significant discussion regarding the US military presence in Europe, America’s role in supporting Ukraine, and Washington’s commitme...

What are the implications of recent and likely future changes in the NATO Command Structure for Europe and North America? @unibirmingham.bsky.social Mark Webber and I dive into this unexplored topic and outline a way ahead in latest issue of Survival. doi.org/10.1080/0039...

But they will!

Britain now 'ready' to seize Russian shadow fleet ships, Healey says Forces can now board sanctioned vessels if required, after ministers identified a legal basis in January.

OPSEC is not a dirty word

BBC News - Britain now 'ready' to seize Russian shadow fleet ships, Healey says - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

EU leaders push for de-escalation amid Middle East war - The World from PRX EU leaders gathered in Brussels today for a two-day summit dominated by the war in the Middle East. Tensions between the US and Europe have escalated since the conflict began, with President Donald Tr...

Europe's leaders have resisted pressure from President Trump to provide military support in the Strait of Hormuz but some experts say maybe not for long. Listen to my report @theworld.org f/t @edrusi.bsky.social Louise Kettle @nottspolitics.bsky.social Ellie Geranmayeh @ecfr.eu tinyurl.com/26kjtam4

EU leaders continue to reject Trump's calls for military support in the Strait of Hormuz, as the war in Iran drags on. My report on the latest from today's EU summit f/t @edrusi.bsky.social Ellie Geranmayeh @ecfr.eu Louise Kettle @uniofnottingham.bsky.social Coming up shortly on @theworld.org

Cyprus President Nikos Christodulides publicly disagrees with NATO Mark Rutte over the ability of European Union to become autonomous and to show mutual support; praises Greece France Italy Spain and Netherlands for de facto activation of EU's Article 42.7. @epc-official.bsky.social

NEW: NATO takes stance on Trump's Iran strikes YouTube video by Fox News

Watch this. Them imagine Trump watching it (he likes Fox). Then you can understand why Trump has turned on NATO again. Completely unacceptable from the Secretary General.

youtu.be/Xj-RQ499RLQ?...

No wonder Trump thinks like this when the NATO Secretary General goes on Fox and praises Trump's war on Iran like the sycophant he is

The unilateral decision by the US to lift sanctions on Russian oil exports is very concerning, as it impacts European security.

Increasing economic pressure on Russia is decisive for it to accept a serious negotiation for a just and lasting peace.

But do still compete in the Winter Olympics

Growing concern in EU capitals that Trump is going to pressure the EU to clear up his mess in the Strait of Hormuz. Argument being: “You guys need the oil most, so you need to do the heavy lifting” on mine sweeping, naval-based air defence & the protection of shipping lanes

Cost of 10 days of the US/Israel-Iran war to the European public due to rise in fossil fuels according to @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu: 3bn Euro.

Not Europe's war, but certainly also Europe's problem.

After a series of fatal strikes involving civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, Congress directed the Pentagon to reduce civilian casualties as part of a 2019 law. During the Biden administration, the Defense Department created the Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response initiative. The civilian mitigation teams – cut by 90% by Hegseth – work with military commanders on target planning, and making sure that targets are actually military sites. The teams help come up with "no strike" lists, including religious and cultural sites and schools

I knew that the Department of War shot a missile into a school & killed 175 civilians, mostly children.

This is learned today:

Secretary of War Hegseth had cut the teams assigned to prevent such tragedies by 90%.
www.npr.org/2026/03/11/n...

The West’s military malaise The West’s response to new methods of warfare in Ukraine and the Middle East has been sluggish, revealing an adaptation process that is slow, risk-averse and underfunded.

“If western military organisations were too slow to develop counters to obvious operational problems in the past 4 years, what else might they have missed?” There is a systemic learning deficiency in western military organisations we need to fix. engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...

Don't they know there is a bloody war going on!

Doubt much of the electorate have noticed but the mess Badenoch and Farage have got into over Iran shows just how beatable they are.

Ukraine retakes most Russian-held areas in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast after weeks of counterattacks Ukraine has nearly liberated the remaining Russian-occupied parts of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast after several weeks of counterattacks in the part of the front line where Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk Obl...

Ukrainian forces have pushed Russian troops out of most occupied areas in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast after several weeks of counterattacks along the section of the front where Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts meet.

‘Tony Blair hasn’t learned from the Iraq War – but Keir Starmer has’ | The News Agents Tony Blair says Keir Starmer should have given Donald Trump his full backing for the war in Iran. The News Agents, however, say Blair doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

"Tony Blair is apparently pissed off that his words came out."

Blair says Keir Starmer should be backing Trump's war in Iran – but does he want to be part of a conflict no one really understands "the point or purpose" of?

www.thenewsagents.co.uk/article/tony...

Just fascinating to see Blair, a man whose reputation was ruined by the Iraq war, advocate joining a war that is exponentially stupider and more chaotic. How is it possible to learn nothing from the worst mistake of your life?

Fixed the headline

That also astonished me when checking. The Strategic Dialogues were:

2021: Raab - Maas
2022: (meeting postponed over snowstorm)
2023: Cleverly - Baerbock
2024: Cameron - Baerbock
2025: Cooper - Wadepfuhl

So Baerbock was the only minister to make two Strategic Dialogues, whereas Lammy made none.

Which could also be any war the US and West has been involved in over the last 30 years

You’ve failed us on Iran, Middle East allies tell UK Bahrain and the UAE join Cyprus in criticising Sir Keir Starmer’s slow response to Tehran’s retaliatory strikes

Bonkers. "One western official said that the proposal to send the ship [HMS Dragon] did not cross the desk of the chief of defence staff until 9.30am on Tuesday — four days after the war started and nearly two days after RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus was hit" www.thetimes.com/uk/defence/a...