That Russia used its artillery to shell a nuclear power plant, starting a fire and posing a potential threat to world health was another affront to humanity as the Kremlin shows no mercy.
But while military options are limited, as former NATO commander Colonel Bob Stewart MP pointed out this weekend, this country now expects Boris Johnson to take a far harder line against those oligarchs, like Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, who have significant business interests have here while maintaining close ties to the Vladimir Putin regime.
As Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves, the Leeds West MP, warns, a “skeptical public could be forgiven for believing that more people with Russian connections are on the Tory donor list than Putin allies are on the UK sanctions list” if Mr Johnson and Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, continues to hesitate.
After all, one of the few levers in the West’s arsenal is its ability to destabilize the Russian economy in hopes that this, in turn, will trigger regime change in the Kremlin. It is also crucial to offset the post-Covid UK cost of living crisis.
As petrol prices hit record highs, the energy price cap will rise from £693 to £1,971 next month; Social security will rise to pay the new health and social security tax and VAT will be brought back to the full 20 per cent rate for tourism and hospitality.
These changes, coupled with rising inflation, will cost families far more than existing measures to balance council taxes and heating bills. And with the Ukraine conflict now also an economic war, Mr. Sunak should prepare significant contingencies ahead of this month’s spring declaration.
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