David Lammy's "Progressive Realism" is Regressive Delusionism
Published in The Herald, January 24th, 2025.
On January 9th, Foreign Secretary David Lammy delivered the Locarno speech laying out the direction of UK foreign policy under Starmer’s government. Locarno, Switzerland was where Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and the UK signed a set of agreements, the Pact of Locarno, that was to guarantee peace in Western Europe. We all know how well that worked out.
Lammy declared that “the post-Cold War peace is well and truly over” and that the UK faces a more threatening strategic environment which it will meet by ramping up military spending to counter its biggest threat which he thinks is Russia. Lammy calls this new approach “Progressive Realism.”
Against Russia, progressive realism means not allowing Putin’s mafia state to act with impunity. And showing the world our resolve to stand by Kyiv until they prevail, guaranteeing £3 billion a year in military aid for as long as it takes and unlocking new funding backed by frozen Russian assets.
Au contraire - this isn’t “Progressive Realism” but “Regressive Delusionism.”
First, Russia didn’t act with impunity. The Ukraine war was triggered by America’s pig-headed insistence on making Ukraine a member of NATO. This would have completed Russia’s encirclement by a hostile military alliance, which Russia rightly viewed as an existential threat. Indulge me with a thought experiment: would President Trump tolerate Russian military bases in Canada or Mexico?
This war was always about NATO enlargement. In 2008 US Ambassador to Russia Bill Burns warned Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice that:
Second, Ukraine can’t possibly prevail. It has lost the war. Its economy is shattered and over a million Ukrainians are either dead or grievously injured. President Trump recently acknowledged that at least 700,000 Ukrainians have been killed, not the far lower numbers fed to the lame stream media by the intelligence agencies.
Third, throwing more money at Kyiv, a notoriously corrupt country well before 2022, won’t change the war’s outcome.
Fourth, using Russia’s frozen assets to fund more military aid is an act of economic warfare. It will convince other nations that the US is an untrustworthy guarantor of the global economy and will hasten the move away from the dollar which is what’s happening.
Lammy and his boss, Sir Keir, are deluded if they think little Britain can take on and win against the nation with the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, second largest army and fourth largest economy —an economy which is growing stronger by the day, while the UK is going in the other direction.
The deranged “100 year security partnership” between the UK and Ukraine signed last week in Kyiv commits the UK to £3bn a year in military aid for
“as long as it takes, and ongoing energy infrastructure support to help hospitals and community facilities provide light and warmth to innocent civilians impacted by Putin’s invasion.”
I’m sure UK citizens would like their government to be on their side “for as long as it takes” and a bit of that “light and warmth”, especially the innocent pensioners impacted by Starmer’s withdrawal of the Winter Fuel Allowance.
But that largesse is reserved for Zelensky’s regime that has been criticised by the American CIA Director for “taking a larger share of the skim money than was going to the generals.”
Starmer is now ‘advising’ President Trump to keep the money and weapons flowing to Ukraine and to please involve the UK in any negotiations with Russia, because he knows that if Trump turns off the tap and holds bilateral talks with Moscow (as he should), the UK will be up a certain creek without a paddle. Neither the UK, the EU nor NATO can come close to replacing US funding ($183 billion so far), and Lammy and Starmer know it, which is why they are so frightened.
What Lammy and Starmer don’t know, however, is the first thing about diplomacy. Diplomacy is about coexisting with other nations. Diplomacy is about respecting and speaking honestly with sovereign states to resolve difficult problems, which God knows the world faces now. And diplomacy requires empathy, an ability to see things from the other’s perspective.
On January 20th, President Putin said:
We welcome his [President Trump’s] approach to do everything to prevent WWIII and we congratulate the newly elected President of the United States on his inauguration.. We have never been against dialog – we have always been ready to maintain a peaceful relationship with any American administration, I have said that many times. We would like to see a dialog based on equality and mutual respect on a number of international issues including strengthening security and political stability. We are also open for dialog with the new US administration on the Ukrainian conflict. The most important thing is to eliminate the fundamental reason for the conflict. The goal should not be a brief ceasefire, but a long-term peace based on respect for the lawful interests of all people and nationalities living in the region.”
We can’t rely on the failing UK to rise to the challenge of speaking to Russia in an effort to address the root cause of the Ukraine war - NATO expansion. So it’s up to President Trump to practice some real progressive realism and leave the UK to sink in its regressive delusionism.
Great article.
Putin's quoted speech at then is most telling.
We've been fed a crock of doo-dah by the Western media regarding the "Russian Bear" and its "Madman" leader. And not for the first time. Sadly it won't be the last time either.
Since Brexit the UK has become irrelevant on the world stage. Outside the EU it clings on to an imaginary ‘special relationship’ with USA.
The UK has a ‘black hole’ in its economy that ordinary folk are having to pay for, and Labour isn’t finished yet.
But so far £12.8 billion has been found for military and non military support for Ukraine, not to mention humanitarian, recovery and reconstruction, sanctions, war crimes and justice support, energy and trade. No such support for Palestine (£99 million from dec 2024, £10 million last year). Now £3 billion annually for Ukraine.
How is it plenty of money can be found to support war in other countries, that we aren’t even directly involved in, but for folk in UK we’re skint?
As you say, if Trump decides to talk to the Russians, the EU and UK will be out in the cold, UK will be even less relevant.
Scotland can do better outwith this failing UK, Starmer, Lammy and co only care about themselves.