Should the UK continue to support Ukraine in its conflict against Russia?
The UK has committed £25 billion in total support to Ukraine since Russia's 2022 invasion, including £16 billion in military aid with £3 billion pledged annually for as long as it takes. Prime Minister Andy Burnham recently visited Kyiv, reaffirmed unwavering backing, shared missile blueprints for local production and announced further air defence packages ahead of winter. Russia continues large-scale attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure while issuing threats over deepening Western involvement.
5 Opinions
It's expensive. But if it's the price of standing up to imperialist aggression that close to us, it's worth it.
The UK government needs ensure the safety its people. It also needs to protect the country’s balance sheet and reduce its expenditure. By ploughing billions into a foreign war that could otherwise reduce the tax burden on citizens or pay off some government debt to bring down the cost of borrowing, it could actually generate some GDP in a flatlining country…
This is a tricky issue. But, if we let Putin redraw borders by force, the rules based order collapses and the Kremlin will only test NATO next, costing Britain even more. The £3bn annual military aid degrades a hostile nuclear aggressor without putting a single British boot on the ground... A decent enough compromise when faced with the alternatives.
Personally I think throwing even more young men into the blender is bad.
Without billions spaffed on this war, the conflict would end much quicker. Military complex already benefitted, and big internationals wanting to enter Ukraine and get slice of it treating this war as investment. Looks like this war will be dragged till the last Ukrainian.