Having been blindsided by Putin, the government must now review its cuts to the army and the wasteful allocation of defence spending
- John Healey is the shadow defence secretary
President Putin’s merciless invasion of Ukraine gravely violates international law and UN conventions. Ukrainians are showing massive bravery but Russia has such crushing firepower and utter ruthlessness that we can expect more of Putin’s military objectives to be taken in the weeks ahead.
Whatever short-term gains he secures, we must make sure that Putin fails in the longer run through Ukrainian resistance, tougher sanctions, more humanitarian help, wider international isolation, justice for the war crimes being committed and, above all, lasting western unity in confronting Russia’s aggression.
John Healey is the Labour MP for Wentworth and Dearne and has been shadow defence secretary since April 2020
