Laura 🥑 😎

To any minister claiming the country is united behind more funding for Ukraine: kindly deduct me from the headcount. A roomful of MPs nodding at one another is not a national opinion poll. You cannot volunteer my agreement simply because you’ve already volunteered my taxes. My position is straightforward: no more British taxpayer money for Ukraine. I want that spending directed towards British people. The existing military commitment alone is £3 billion a year. Yet ask for meaningful improvements at home and we’re invited to appreciate the complexity of public finances. Difficult choices. Limited resources. Competing priorities. I understand competing priorities perfectly. I’m telling you which country I think should come first. Britain. I want accessible healthcare, decent roads, affordable energy, proper support for our veterans and public services that justify what we pay for them. Perhaps British patients could hold an international summit. Apparently a waiting room needs flags and a joint communiqué before anyone becomes terribly decisive. And could we have some of that “for as long as it takes” determination applied to fixing this country? The people paying for these commitments deserve more than a lecture about why their objections are inconvenient. Ministers are entitled to argue for continued funding. They should explain the costs, defend the priorities and acknowledge that people disagree. What they should stop doing is announcing national agreement from the comfort of a chamber whose members have already agreed with themselves. You may have Westminster’s applause. You do not have mine. Yours, suggesting the British government develop an interest in Britain, A Gentleman from the Old School. 🎩