Defending ourselves now of vital importance

I am disgusted by the manner in which Western governments have scuttled out of Afghanistan, leaving the people, in particular the women, to their fate. The inevitable result will be a resurgence of terrorist activity around the world, while the decent people of Afghanistan will once again be subjected to a medieval regime of bigots. It will embolden China, Iran and Russia, and make the world a more dangerous place for democracy. I dread to think of how those maimed in the conflict must now feel, while the loved ones of those killed must believe that they died in vain.

It is a tragedy that the

American political class continues to obsess over nonsensical gender and culture wars, while all around them the house is burning down, and must now call into question how much we can rely upon NATO, as America apparently reverts to inter war isolationism. Obviously we are no longer the paramount military power in the world, as we were for over a century, but we are nevertheless, along with France, the only European nation which could, in the absence of American forces, resist an onslaught from the East.

We must ensure that we are like a nest of hornets, sufficiently strong to make attacking us not worthwhile. To do this we need to massively increase the size of the Army, and the RAF, while building a great many more

Naval warships, including a large number of smaller frigates to guard our coasts, not least from illegal immigration.

In addition, our military hardware should be built in the UK, necessitating reopening shipyards and steelworks, while the insane policy of selling our most vital armament manufacturers to foreign owners must be stopped and reversed.

Importantly we must have a larger nuclear deterrent, which is fully independent of American control. All this would involve great expense but that is the price of liberty.

Colin Bullen