No wonder Putin felt he was able to strike

BEFORE we start getting too smug about punishing Putin, perhaps we should remember that this country has played its part in giving him encouragement in various ways, including welcoming Russian dirty billions by the London bankers in the Square Mile – no questions asked and causing house price inflation, particularly in the London area which is now out of the reach for many, with the knock-on effect for the rest of the country.

Coupled with that we must have given Putin the distinct impression that we were a country divided when he saw the ‘tail wagging the dog’ here and I’m sure not without subtle encouragement from the Kremlin and Beijing. The BLM movement, Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion are blatantly allowed to bring Britain to a standstill. Promoting gender neutral toilets, the Trans Movement and the Woke brigades have unfettered influence over our way of life.

How such minuscule minorities of the population can be allowed to have such an effect on our way of life is beyond most people’s comprehension.

Even Britain’s national security advisor and former permanent secretary at the Ministry of

Defence, one Stephen Lovegrove, is promoting his views on the BLM movement and encouraging those in our Security Services to be more ‘Woke Aware’. So where do his priorities lie? In the defence of the country or in political correctness?

So why is he still in the job, or more importantly, how did he get appointed in the first place? Government still hasn’t taken the bull by the horns to make the MoD civil servants return to their offices, which must also have given Putin encouragement to take his chances.

The anti-fracking green lobby has played right into Putin’s hands. This government must have the courage to tap into this energy source right under our noses before we all freeze to death in abject poverty just to show its misguided green credentials, at least for the foreseeable future until there is a constant reliable source of renewable energy.

We can only hope that Putin has seriously underestimated our true resolve, coupled with the resolve of the rest of our allies, and that he fails miserably in Ukraine.

Failing that, Moldova and Finland will be next on his hit list.

Edward Kynaston Lydney, Gloucestershire