Wallace describes Putin as a “lunatic” with “little man syndrome”
Boris Johnson told a German network yesterday that Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if he had been a woman. Nadeem Badshah has the story here.
This may not be the deepest geopolitical view of a British Prime Minister, although that does not mean that Johnson is completely wrong.
LBC was asked this morning by Ben Wallace, the secretary of defense, if he agreed. He said he did not want to get into that debate, but then offered his own assessment of Putin’s psyche. The Russian president was suffering from “little man syndrome,” Wallace said. He went:
You rarely hear the phrase little woman syndrome, you always hear little man syndrome. I think he definitely has a lot going for him.
Putin is 5 feet 7 inches tall.
But Wallace questioned the theory that women are unlikely to be militants, citing Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as evidence to support her point. In the course of this response, he also called Putin a “lunatic.” He told LBC:
To be fair there is that lady, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, it’s like a comedy turn, she makes her statement every week, threatening everyone with a nuclear bomb or one thing or another. She’s definitely a woman … She’s crazy [Putin] it is, so I leave it.
Truss says invading Taiwan would be “a catastrophic miscalculation” for China
Peter Walker
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has told the NATO summit that invading Taiwan would be “a catastrophic miscalculation” by China, arguing that the UK and other countries should reconsider their relations trade with countries that used their economic power in “coercive” ways.
Speaking at the panel meeting alongside Anthony Albanese, the Australian Prime Minister, and Alexander De Croo, the Belgian Prime Minister, Truss said:
I believe that with China extending its influence through economic coercion and building a capable army, there is a real risk that they will get the wrong idea that it will result in a catastrophic miscalculation, such as invading Taiwan.
With China expanding its strategic ambitions, Truss said, NATO had to expand its strategic concept – its core mission was last updated in 2010 and was to be renewed at this Madrid summit – to refer specifically to China.
G7 countries and nations like Australia should use their “economic weight” to challenge China, he said, adding that countries like the UK could even rethink their focus on trade with Beijing. She explained:
I think we have historically not used that economic power. We have been equidistant, if you will, with whom we negotiate, with whom we work. And I think countries are focusing a lot more now, this is trade with confidence, do we trust this partner? Will they use it to undermine us or will they use it for the mutual benefit of our economies? Thus, trade has become much more geopolitical.
Liz Truss arrives at the NATO summit in Madrid. Photography: Paul White / AP
Ben Wallace downplays the conversation with Boris Johnson about spending on defense
Good morning. Boris Johnson is today at the NATO summit in Madrid, and Ben Wallace, the Secretary of Defense, has been doing the round of interviews this morning. The Daily Telegraph today sketches a story that says Boris Johnson is facing a cabinet split over defense spending. Diu:
The Telegraph may reveal that Downing Street intervened to dilute demands to increase Ben Wallace’s defense spending in a speech on Tuesday.
Wallace, the Secretary of Defense, had to argue that spending only two percent of GDP on defense was obsolete. However, the line was removed at the request of number 10.
Downing Street was said to be “furious” at what was seen as an attempt to get Johnson to announce a major increase in defense spending while at the NATO summit this week.
This morning Wallace claimed the story was based on a misunderstanding. A few words were taken from the speech, he admitted. But that wasn’t because the prime minister disagreed with them, but because he himself meant them, Wallace said. He told Times Radio:
There were some words from my speech that were taken out because today the Prime Minister will say them.
I think the center just wanted to make sure I said it before the defense secretary said it. It is perfectly legitimate. Those were his words. There is nothing conspiracy, I fear.
Wallace also reiterated his call for defense spending to increase. He told Sky News:
In the here and now we are right. The question is what happens in the middle of the decade.
My settlement was made before Russia invaded Ukraine. Russia is very, very dangerous on the world stage. The world is less secure than it was two or three years ago and does not seem likely to change for the rest of the decade.
This is the time, in the middle of the decade, to say that we must commit to increasing funding.
While there is widespread agreement in the cabinet that defense spending should increase, opinions appear to be divided on what the increase should be and how it should be presented. One issue is defense spending as a proportion of GDP; another is the Tory manifesto’s promise to increase defense spending by at least 0.5% above inflation. In his story overnight, my colleagues Peter Walker and Dan Sabbagh explain what happened.
Here is the agenda of the day.
09:00: Boris Johnson attends the official opening of the NATO summit in Madrid. The summit will continue throughout the day.
9:30 a.m .: The Commons Privileges Committee meets privately to begin planning its investigation into whether Boris Johnson lied to lawmakers about Partygate. Harriet Harman is expected to be elected chair of the committee.
9.45 am: Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of Labor and Pensions, testifies before the Committee on Labor and Pensions of the Commons.
10am: Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Secretary of International Trade, testifies at the Commons International Trade Committee on the trade agreement with Australia.
10.30am: Lisa Nandy, the secretary of the rise of shadow, makes a speech at the annual conference of the Association of Local Governments.
12:00: Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, faces Angela Rayner, deputy leader of labor, in the PMQ.
12.45 pm: Sajid Javid, Secretary of Health, gives a talk to the Policy Exchange think tank on digital transformation in healthcare.
2.15pm: George Eustice, Secretary of the Environment, testifies before the Commons Environmental Audit Committee.
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Boris Johnson talks to reporters during his flight yesterday from Germany to Madrid, where he is attending the NATO summit today. Photography: Getty Images
Updated at 09.42 BST