Peace in our time?

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?

Smile, they said. Because things could always get worse. So I smiled. And lo and behold, things got worse.

There are so many other things that I could be writing about – the economy, the push to highlight the benefits of working in this sector, the Government’s response to the Grenfell Inquiry, the challenge of getting anywhere near the housing targets, the challenge of getting anywhere near our net zero targets…Yet, of course, all I can come up with is more words on what happened last week.

I’ve said before that the tactics from the US President seem to be those of the worst boss you’ve ever had. Made yourself the most unpleasant, unreasonable person in the room, play every a-hole card in your deck and everyone else ends up having to deal with you on your terms. It’s so infuriating, but it appears to be what’s happened. Things haven’t gone his way, so he’s taken his toys away. Toys that could make a real difference to whether real people live or die.

Someone pointed out that if you watch the whole press conference on YouTube, it’s only that last 10 minutes or so where it all kicks off. Up until that (planted question? – probably) idiot journalist with the sartorial obsession asked Zelensky about why he wasn’t wearing a suit, it was all relatively civil. As you would expect, because it was only when it became apparent that the Ukrainian President wasn’t going to jump through the Putin-provided hoops that it all went pear-shaped. Incidentally, I haven’t noticed anyone attacking Elon Musk for disrespecting the sanctity of the Oval Office by wearing a baseball cap. Funny that.

Compare the way that the Oval office press conference debacle ended with the way Sir Keir Starmer walked along Downing Street to greet Zelensky with a hug, and walked him to his car to say goodbye in the same way. Class. And the way that he was welcomed – still in his fatigues – by The King to Sandringham. Not Balmoral, the gloomy Highland castle that King Charles has, by all accounts, never liked, and the place he’s invited Trump to, but Sandringham. His home. Class.

I thought JD Vance, Trump’s XL Bully attack dog was bad enough when he berated Zelensky for not showing grovelling gratitude in the Oval Office, but on Monday he really went below the belt. How dare he disrespect the military personnel of all those European countries who have seen action in the last 30 or 40 years. Regardless of one’s opinion of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and our part in them, how dare he disrespect the memory of those soldiers who did their jobs and paid the price? Some of them, the ultimate price. That is unforgiveable. Mr Trump, you picked him to be your deputy. And for that,  once again, I judge you.

It may all work. The headlines today seem to indicate that there is room for manoeuvre, though the olive branch is coming from the Ukrainian side. If it stops the war then maybe everything I’ve written is moot. But peace in Ukraine cannot, must not, be bought at the cost of strengthening Putin’s ambitions further down the line. If he gets his hands on what he wants too easily, he will be back for more.