Eliot Wilson

The government’s treaty with Mauritius to hand over sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), including the joint UK/US military facility on Diego Garcia, has caused anger and fierce debate since it was signed in May last year. In the latest setback, it appears to prevent the United States from handling or storing nuclear

Long before he was president of the United States, Donald Trump was a caricature. Producer Mark Burnett approached him to be the lynchpin of The Apprentice precisely because he was a cartoonishly bombastic, ‘greed is good’ era figure addicted to displays of gold-plated opulence. Since occupying the White House, Trump has also frequently acted as a stereotypical

The United Kingdom’s allies in Europe are concerned that the British government is not allocating enough resources to defence and that our armed forces’ capabilities are already suffering as a result. No one likes to be openly chided by their friends – and it stings all the more because it is true. Last week, the

Sir Keir Starmer’s announcement last February that the government would increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP from April 2027 seems a long time ago. It was trumpeted as the ‘biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War’, but in fact represented a very modest rise from the 2.3 per cent

The current conflict in Ukraine has frequently been compared to the first world war. There is an echo of the same grimness and intensity: the huge artillery barrages, the sprawling network of trenches, the horrifying casualty rates. Amid all that, Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, clinging on to their ‘coalition of the willing’, are

Kemi Badenoch has announced a series of commitments on defence spending that she would implement if she were to become prime minister. This is an important and sensitive issue as the war in Ukraine continues and there are repeated warnings about the heightened threats to the UK. The Conservatives would reallocate £17 billion of public

‘Full steam ahead’: That was the verdict on the Aukus alliance from Defence Secretary John Healey after the United States concluded its review of the alliance this week. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivered the good news to Healey and Richard Marles, Australia’s Minister for Defence, in Washington this week. But there’s a catch:

Luke Pollard, recently promoted to Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, must have looked forward to visiting General Dynamics UK in Merthyr Tydfil at the beginning of the month. The facility in south Wales builds the Ajax armoured fighting vehicle and its five variants (Ares, Athena, Apollo, Atlas, Argus: alliteration pays well in the defence

As a Russian spy ship lurks on the edge of British waters, Defence Secretary John Healey had a message for Vladimir Putin: ‘We see you, we know what you’re doing and…we are ready.’ Unfortunately, the reality is that Britain isn’t quite as ready as it should be. Defence Secretary John Healey had a message for

Nine retired senior military officers have written an open letter to warn that the expansion of human rights legislation is damaging morale within Britain’s armed forces and undermining their effectiveness. These are among our most eminent generals: all have held four-star rank; three have served as Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of

It is a distinct career advantage in Sir Keir Starmer’s government for ambitious ministers to be able to shut unpalatable truths out of their minds and maintain a tone of blind, unwavering optimism. Luke Pollard, the minister for defence readiness and industry, showed those qualities this week on a visit to the General Dynamics UK

Hallowe’en is nearly over for another year. Thank goodness, you might say. Each October, many Brits scratch their heads about when this festival became such a big thing. I am as guilty as the next person in doing so: only last weekend I reflected, with a combination of curiosity and weariness, that ‘when I was

Sir Keir Starmer is proving to be an unlucky prime minister. This week began with a demonstration of his haplessness. The Prime Minister travelled to Ankara to announce an £8 billion deal to supply the Turkish air force with 20 new Eurofighter Typhoons, beginning in 2030. Yet the political headlines in Britain were full of

There have been 14 cabinet secretaries since the post was established in 1916. The first, Lieutenant Colonel Sir Maurice Hankey, served for nearly 22 years; in stark contrast, there are now reports that the 14th and current incumbent, Sir Chris Wormald, will be gone by the New Year, having served just 12 or 13 months.