Michael“Ministry of Defence seeks £3.2bn as costs overrun in Yemen and Ukraine”
Utter madness to spend this on death and war and incompetence to overrun budget.
GeoffD@therightarticle are suggesting appeasement is preferable or am I misunderstanding your point
Charlie Stross@therightarticle @Lazarou Bllame fucking Putin for that. And remember, it could be worse: last time the UK was in a REAL war, the country came within a week of bankruptcy and the top income tax rate hit 97% and food rationing didn't end for another nine years afterwards.
Certainly blame the Tories for most of the shit we're in, but it's not *all* their fault (except for not getting serious about Putin earlier—say, after the Litvinenko and Salisbury murders).
Lazarou Monkey Terror 🚀💙🌈@cstross @therightarticle we could have avoided so much hassle now if everyone wasnt such a sellout back in the 00s.
😑
😑
@Lazarou @therightarticle Remember the 90s? Russia got fucked over by US neoconservatives moving into the power vacuum left by the collapse of the USSR, with Yeltsin as a figurehead. It was a clusterfuck that made brexitland look prosperous and comfortable. So *at first* Putin looked like a stabilizing figure (and a non-drunk one), lip service to democracy, all that sort of thing. Then after about 2008 things took a dark turn ...
@Lazarou @therightarticle With 20/20 hindsight Putin was Putin all along, but he was cunning and smart enough to wear a mask at first.
nickj@nickj @therightarticle @Lazarou To start with, circa 2014, taking SERIOUS measures to counter disinformation and political meddling. (Brexit was close enough that it might not have happened. Ditto Trump, although that's less certain.) Counter Russian military action in Syria and Africa via Wagner Group (and successors). And stand up to Putin over Ukraine before the invasion started.
@cstross standing up would consist of what?