One could almost admire the consistency with which the current British Labour Government manages to stumble into every avoidable national-security pitfall.
Almost. For a party that once counted enthusiastic supporters of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in its ranks (and amongst its leadership) — a movement that, as historians have long noted, was the subject of significant Soviet influence and covert backing during the Cold War — Labour does seem determined to prove that some habits die very hard indeed.
So here we are again: ministers smiling benignly while a hostile power eyes prime real estate in the capital, as though national security were some sort of optional extra rather than a fundamental responsibility of government.
One might have hoped that, after decades of uncomfortable revelations about how Moscow leveraged Western naïveté for strategic gain, a modern British Government would show a little more caution. Instead, we get the political equivalent of leaving the front door open, a note on the table, and the kettle boiling — “Make yourself at home, do let us know if you need anything.”
In fact, the whole spectacle carries a certain retro charm. It takes one back to the era when earnest young activists marched under CND banners, blissfully unaware — or unconcerned — that the Kremlin considered them a convenient tool in its geopolitical chess match.
Today’s incarnation of that outlook appears not in marches, but in planning documents and ministerial statements, delivered with the same wide-eyed faith that foreign adversaries can be mollified through gestures of goodwill and a relaxed attitude toward basic security.
If there were a prize for repeating the mistakes of the past with unwavering dedication, this Government would be a shoo-in. The country, regrettably, is stuck with the consequences.
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