Wallace describes Putin as a “lunatic” with “little man syndrome”
Boris Johnson told German television yesterday that Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if he had been a woman. Nadim Badshah has the story here.
This may not be the deepest geopolitical insight that comes from a British prime minister, although that does not mean that Johnson is completely wrong.
On LBC this morning, Ben Wallace, the Secretary of Defense, was asked if he agreed. He said he did not want to enter the debate, but then went on to offer his own assessment of Putin’s psyche. The Russian president suffers from “little man syndrome,” Wallace said. He continued:
You rarely hear the phrase little woman syndrome, you always hear little man syndrome. I think he certainly understood it at the peak.
Putin is reported to be 5 feet 7 inches.
But Wallace questioned the theory that women were unlikely to be instigators of war, citing Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, as evidence in support of her thesis. In response, he also called Putin a “lunatic.” He told LBC:
Honestly, there is that lady, the spokeswoman in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she is like a comedian, she makes her speeches every week, threatening everyone with nuclear weapons or doing something or other. She’s definitely a woman … She’s like a lunatic [Putin] is, so I’ll leave it at that.
Trus said the invasion of Taiwan would be a “catastrophic mistake” for China
Peter Walker
Liz Truss, the foreign minister, told a NATO summit that invading Taiwan would be a “catastrophic mistake” by China, arguing that the United Kingdom and other countries should reconsider their trade relations with countries that use economic its power in “forced” ways.
Speaking at the panel meeting with Anthony Albanese, the Australian Prime Minister, and Alexander De Croo, the Belgian Prime Minister, Trus said:
I think that by expanding China’s influence through economic coercion and building a capable army, there is a real risk that they will come up with a wrong idea that would lead to a catastrophic mistake like invading Taiwan.
As China expands its strategic ambitions, Truss said, NATO needs to broaden its strategic concept – its main mission was last updated in 2010 and needs to be revised at this Madrid summit – to refer specifically to China.
G7 countries and nations like Australia must use their “economic weight” to challenge China, she said, adding that countries like the United Kingdom could even rethink their approach to trade with Beijing. She explained:
I don’t think we have used this economic force historically. We were at the same distance, if you will, for who we trade with, who we work with. And I think now the countries are becoming much more focused on whether this trade is trusted, do we trust this partner? Will they use it to undermine us, or will they use it for the mutual benefit of both our economies? So trade is much more geopolitical.
Liz Truss arrives for the NATO summit in Madrid. Photo: Paul White / AP
Ben Wallace downplays rupture talks with Boris Johnson over defense spending
Good morning. Boris Johnson is at the NATO summit in Madrid today, and Ben Wallace, the defense minister, is doing the morning interview. The Daily Telegraph published an article today, according to which Boris Johnson is facing a split in the cabinet over defense spending. He says:
The Telegraph may reveal that Downing Street intervened to reduce calls for higher defense spending from Ben Wallace in a speech Tuesday.
Mr Wallace, the defense minister, had to say that spending just two per cent of GDP on defense was outdated. However, the line was removed at the request of number 10.
Downing Street is said to have remained “furious” at what it saw as an attempt to get Mr Johnson to announce a sharp increase in defense spending during this week’s NATO summit.
This morning, Wallace argues that the story is based on a misunderstanding. Some words were taken from the speech, he admitted. But that’s not because the prime minister disagrees with them, but because the prime minister himself wanted to say them, Wallace said. He told Times Radio:
There were some words in my speech that were taken out because the prime minister will say them today.
I think the center just wanted to make sure he said it before the Secretary of Defense said it. This is completely legitimate. Those were his words. I’m afraid there’s nothing conspiracy in it.
Wallace also reiterated his call for increased defense spending. He told Sky News:
Here and now we are set up correctly. 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 is unlikely to change by the end of the decade.
This is the time, in the middle of the decade, to say that we need to commit to increased funding.
Although there is widespread agreement in the cabinet that defense spending should increase, views seem divided on what the rise should be and how it should be presented. One of the issues is defense spending as a share of GDP; another is the promise of the Tories manifesto to increase defense spending by at least 0.5% above inflation. In their one-night stand, my colleagues Peter Walker and Dan Sabag explain what happened.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9 am: Boris Johnson attends the official opening of the NATO summit in Madrid. The summit will continue throughout the day.
9.30am: The Municipal Privileges Commission meets in private to begin planning its investigation into whether Boris Johnson lied to MPs about Partygate. Harriet Harman is expected to be elected chair of the commission.
9.45 am: Theresa Coffey, Secretary of Labor and Pensions, testifies before the Committee on Labor and Pensions.
10 a.m.: Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Minister of International Trade, testifies to the Municipal International Trade Commission about the trade deal with Australia.
10.30 am: Lisa Nandi, Secretary for Shadow Leveling, addresses the annual conference of the Association of Local Governments.
12 noon: Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, faces Angela Raynor, the Labor deputy leader, at PMQs.
12.45pm: Sajid Javid, Minister of Health, addresses the think tank for the exchange of policies on the digital transformation of healthcare.
2.15pm: George Justis, Secretary of the Environment, gives evidence to the Municipality’s Environmental Audit Committee.
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Boris Johnson spoke to reporters during yesterday’s flight from Germany to Madrid, where he attended today’s NATO summit. Photo: Getty Images
Updated at 09.42 BST
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