The £16.5 Billion ‘Look A Squirrel’ Moment Has Arrived – Every Day More Stupidity

Boris Johnson announced Thursday the biggest boost in spending on Britain’s armed forces since the end of the Cold War, vowing to end an “era of retreat” and to “stand alongside our allies.”

Over the next four years, the British armed forces will receive an extra £16.5 billion, helping it to develop cyber and space capabilities, modernize weapons and create an artificial intelligence agency. The government said it was the largest military spending increase in 30 years. It represents about a 10 percent rise from previous spending plans. This at a time when the British public have lived through 10 years of austerity, nearly a year of Covid-19 and BREXIT just weeks  away with no deal  with the EU and precious few deals with any other country in the world.

However Johnson told Parliament on Thursday that he made the decision “in the teeth of the pandemic” because “the defense of the realm and safety of the British people must come first.” The fact that 13 million people, including one in three of our children, live in poverty is of little consequence when compared to Johnson’s  chance to play with ray guns. And we all though his other ideas, Garden Bridge, Boris Airport, a Bridge To Ireland where off the wall.

Still Johnson, who is self-quarantining at his Downing Street residence after coming into contact with a lawmaker who has the coronavirus, spoke to Parliament via video link.

“Reviving our armed forces” is a way to safeguard British values, he said, by “strengthening our global influence and reinforcing our ability to join the United States and our other allies to defend free and open societies.” He added, “The international situation is more perilous and more intensely competitive than at any time since the Cold War.” Because mainly our so called worldd leaders are fools like Johnson, Trump and the rest of the so called ‘populist’ leaders.

It is time, Johnson said, to “end the era of retreat.” Perhaps it’s time to end the era if inequality that has become the norm in the UK.

“Britain must be true to our history, to stand alongside our allies, sharing the burden and bringing our expertise to bear on the world’s toughest problems,” he said. “To achieve this, we need to upgrade our capabilities across the board.”

Keir Starmer asked “How will this announcement be paid for? Such is the government’s handling of the pandemic, the U.K. has the sharpest economic downturn of any [Group of Seven] country,” Starmer said.

Andrew Mitchell, a former international development secretary, told Johnson he should “bear in mind the wise words of General [Jim] Mattis, the former American defense secretary, who told Donald Trump, and I quote, ‘The more you cut aid, the more I have to spend on ammunition.’”

The government said in a statement Wednesday evening that the military funding will “cement the U.K.’s position as the largest defense spender in Europe and the second largest in NATO.”  Meanwhile the rest of the EU nations are getting on with improving the lives of their citizens rather that dreaming of being one of the rulers  of the world.

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News that previously, “our funding never matched our ambition — and that goes for most of the reviews for the last 40 years.” He added: “This means we can have a proper discussion about what are our global ambitions and how are we going to fund it.” Jingoism alive and kicking in the UK. It appears our global  ambitions seem to be based on military might. Sad times.