What we need now is leadership, not another Cold War

The revelation that the US Government plans to invest £63 million at RAF Lossiemouth shows just how badly fractured the West’s relationship with Russia has become.

President Trump may well have smiled for the cameras and shaken hands with Vladimir Putin at the recent summit in Helsinki.

However, behind the PR spin there remain deep worries in Europe and the US over Russia’s actions in recent years.

The truly awful poisonings in Salisbury were the most horrific example of the threat posed by a country that many experts now brand a gangster state.

Meanwhile, away from the huge publicity caused by the Novichok scandal, Russia’s submarine fleet has become increasingly active off our coasts.

Their silent manoeuvring is being blamed for the ramping up of operations at Lossie, with the US, Norway and the UK spending vast sums of money at the site.

While this spending is a boon for the local economy, it should cause each and every one of us to shudder.

The world, increasingly, is becoming a more hostile place in which to live, potentially as hostile as it was during the Cold War.

Terrorism, far-right extremism, a volatile US President and Russia’s equally combustible leader, supported by his nefarious secret service, make for a poisonous mix.

What we need now from our leaders is true leadership. Leadership that is based on patience, compromise and a desire to find solutions to our many global problems.

What we do not need are leaders obsessed with firing off explosive tweets without a thought for their reckless and often inflammatory comments.

There is no place for egomania when it comes to protecting the safety of any country’s citizens.