the UK is being laughed at

[Unkraut]

As a brief comparison, Russia has lost more tanks in Ukraine than the British army has tanks.

Same for the Bundeswehr. A fact that has jolted a population that thought war was never going to happen in Europe again and so let down its guard.

My better half tells me (so it must be true) that once the € 100 billion as been spent on the German armed forces together with the extra € 25 billion each year thereafter to meet the 2% GDP miniumum Germany will be the world's third military power after the USA and China.

 

[Rusty Nails]

I'm not so sure. You are right about Britain being fairly important within NATO, but with years of defence reviews leading to cutbacks British influence must have waned quite a lot. Conventional forces have suffered due to the expense of the nuclear deterrent. The RAF is quite a force to be reckoned with, but deterring Russia requires a significant army presence, and an army just over twice the size of Belgium's will, I reckon, not put Putin off much.

More importantly is Johnson's reputation for dishonesty, which is fresh in the memories of anyone who had anything to do with Brexit. He simply cannot be relied upon.

The scruffy appearance of Hair Johnson doesn't exactly make you proud to be British either.

That is the point of NATO. Military strengths are combined, and it is not just about the size of one nation's armed forces, whether large or small.
The UK is still a significant contributor to the combined strength of NATO, and that is why I believe the snub was petty.

Politicians should be grown up about things like this and it should be about the role and contribution of the country, not the personality of the leader.............Johnson is an a*se but that is not the point. They should not act like schoolkids discussing who not to invite to the birthday party.

 

[Beebo]

the British Armed services aren’t set up for large scale land invasions as that has been discounted by the top brass as a risk. Russia has shown how out dated that approach is.

The current set up is a much smaller footprint. It’s all about air strikes, drones and artillery. With specific highly skilled infantry hit squads.

The whole army would fit in Wembley. The Navy and RAF combined would fit in Old Trafford. And that includes the back room auxiliary staff. The actual fighting force would be around 50% of that.

 

[Ian H]

Same for the Bundeswehr. A fact that has jolted a population that thought war was never going to happen in Europe again and so let down its guard.

My better half tells me (so it must be true) that once the € 100 billion as been spent on the German armed forces together with the extra € 25 billion each year thereafter to meet the 2% GDP miniumum Germany will be the world's third military power after the USA and China.

For a long time Germany was not encouraged to rearm. Memories of WW2 and all that.

 

[Mr Celine]

It goes without saying that Johnson is an a*sehole, but the UK is a major contributor to NATO and should not be left out because of hurt feelings by some in the EU.....if that is the real reason. This is too important for petty politics.

PS. Just read that it is an EU leaders' summit meeting, and Johnson, as he wanted, is not an EU leader so his absence can be justified in a petty sort of way.

Perhaps they consider him a security risk.
Travelling alone to party with ex KGB officials, refusing to investigate Russian interference in UK elections and the EU referendum, leader of a party that accepts donations from Putin's cronies, a proven liar, unable to keep his trousers on - no wonder they don't want to engage with him.

 

[FishFright]

Perhaps they consider him a security risk.
Travelling alone to party with ex KGB officials, refusing to investigate Russian interference in UK elections and the EU referendum, leader of a party that accepts donations from Putin's cronies, a proven liar, unable to keep his trousers on - no wonder they don't want to engage with him.

Giving the Russian oligarchs all that extra time to get their money out of London won't have helped.

 

[BoldonLad]

Giving the Russian oligarchs all that extra time to get their money out of London won't have helped.

Depends who you are trying to help, doesn’t it?

 

[theclaud]

Enjoy...


View: https://twitter.com/MattHighton/status/1507129762203979786?t=7M0uIQCdYb8LZs8OKnVvrA&s=19

 

[cookiemonster]

Still being laughed at.

 

[cookiemonster]

Still laughing. Even in Papua New Guinea's biggest newspaper.