On Friday, the 9th of January 2026, Captain (Israeli Navy, Reserves) Doctor Azi Dagan posted a short video on the LinkedIn group IOSI: Counter-Terrorism and Geopolitical Security, accompanied by the text: The Iranian regime is slaughtering the protesters. To which I replied: It’s truly terrible, a foul crime. But what did you have to say about the slaughter of more than 20,000 innocent children? The reply to that was: We would say that it’s Hamas propaganda!
President Donald Trump’s recent comments about NATO do not indicate a call for collective security reform. Instead, they reveal an intensely transactional view of international partnerships. Urging alliance members to assign as much as 5% of their GDP, an unprecedented figure, to purchasing U.S.-made weaponry and military equipment, Trump has once again reframed global security as a business deal.
Picture the scene. It’s Prime Minister’s Questions, the great gladiatorial stage of British democracy, less Gladiator and more Blazing Saddles at a town planning meeting in Swindon. Keir Starmer, sensible Labour’s hero, their knight in gleaming, sensible shoes, rises from the opposition bench. That look on his face, you know the one, shows a man who’s just alphabetised his law books and is ready to go. Across the gallery, Rishi Sunak sits there, gleaming, like a waxwork who’s been told he has to look “empathetic” by 5 p.m. or he’ll be back in the dock. Starmer adjusts his glasses and launches into one of his trademark cross-examinations. It’s like watching a lawyer interrogate a spreadsheet. “Point one, Mr Speaker!” He declares, and you can hear the ghost of Mel Brooks shouting, “What’s wrong with this guy? Where’s the dynamism?” He cites a statistic: a 17.3% increase in NHS waiting times, in case you’re wondering, and it isn’t. Then another: a £3.2 billion shortfall in council budgets. It’s meticulous, it’s legal, it’s as if he’s building a case to prosecute a toaster for breach of warranty. By the time he gets to his witty quip, “The failure of this government isn’t just a policy, it’s a personality trait!”, he drops like a Gregg’s custard tart allowed to fall by a woman worried about her cleaning bills.
This book is dedicated to the great, compassionate, and visionary individuals. They have profoundly shaped my political journey. They have also influenced how I understand the world. Their courage, integrity, and unwavering commitment to justice have inspired me and countless others. Their actions have made an indelible impact on the political landscape of recent times.
Britain’s Labour Party has been besieged by
a continuous barrage of accusations alleging that the party is anti-Semitic; that
it is institutionally racist and that its leader is somehow turning a blind eye
to it.
This is a very serious and weighty
allegation, with potentially devastating implications.
So, what does this deluge of accusations of
anti-Semitism in the Labour Party tell us about racism in Britain and in British
politics?
In 2016 the UK held what was called the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum the objective of which was to gauge public sentiment about the UK leaving or remaining in the EU.
It was a non-binding consultation, which
means that regardless of outcome, it can be legitimately ignored by MPs.
The generally accepted nonsense about the referendum being legally or constitutionally binding was just that, nonsense.
In 2016 the UK held what was offically known as the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, a non-binding consultation with the people of the UK on the question of the UK leaving or remaining in the EU.
51.9% of those who voted supported the UK’s exit from the European Union.
My post-EU election advice to the UK Labour Party leadership
As I commented to Keir Starmer today “Labour are making a fundamental mistake and it ain’t working, Keir”.
Labour’s approach to Brexit is completely the wrong strategy and it’s doing nobody (apart from Nigel Farage) any favours. No Brexit will benefit the immense majority of the country, we know that, and we know that the EU is not going to cut a better deal for anyone, regardless of their political flavour, because that’s just the way it is.
Like it or loath it, but, Theresa May probably struck the best Brexit deal that the UK can aspire to, and it was roundly rejected, for various reasons, by Westminster. No, the best Brexit deal is no Brexit at all.
This is one of those rare occasions when I don’t agree entirely with what Simon has to say, but, the piece still carries a lot of good sense and finely tuned criticism.
For me, this quarrel isn’t fundamentally about security or reining in big-tech. This is essentially about trade wars, base protection, maintaining power and imposing influence. In short, it’s about hubris, intimidation and violence on the global political stage.
But, at the bottom of all of this is the Trump administration’s Homeric ignorance and epic ability to simply fanny-around.
Martyn Martyn Richard Jones
Martyn Richard Jones
GOOD STRATEGY 