Rishi Sunak's dangerous war talk bluster could spark off genuine conflict

25 January 2024 , 20:24

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Rishi Sunak ups pledge (Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

There is too much talk of war, and this old war baby doesn’t like it.

Rishi Sunak promises ­open-ended combat against Iran-funded rebels in Yemen. He’s already upped military aid to Ukraine by £200million to £2.5billion a year.

“We are living in a pre-war society,” blusters Defence Secretary Grant Shapps.

A top NATO commander says the alliance is preparing for a conflict with Russia “in the next 20 years”. As part of the build-up, 20,000 British troops will take part in the biggest European exercises against the Kremlin since the Cold War.

A new, populist government in Slovakia warns that taking Ukraine into NATO – as demanded by Field Marshal Boris Johnson and other Tory bigmouths – “would be a basis for World War Three”. And now British defence chiefs warn of conscription to fight a potential NATO war against Russia, because the Army is too small.

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What does all this hawkish talk amount to? In one sense, just that: talk. But to my mind, it’s dangerous talk, that could become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The more the top brass and the chest-beating politicians compete with each other, the more their warlike rhetoric risks the real thing.

I was born on the day German troops occupied Monte Cassino in the Second World War. My generation lived with the consequences of that global struggle. Casual talk of war, especially by old sweats and bellicose has-beens in public life, is a luxury we cannot afford.

Paul Routledge