Forces Unmarketed

Enthusiasts of British peacekeeping from Afghanistan through Yemen to Libya will be righteously indignant that the greatest arms dealers in the world may be denied the moral profits of annihilating the fiend Putin. The Nazi-Soviet Strasbrussels cabal is preparing a substantial order of ammunition for the defence of democracy, the triumph of freedom and the expansion of NATO; but the beneficiaries are likely to be arms dealers in France, Germany, Italy and, of all places, Norway. A discussion document, apparently prepared by haphazard off-WhatsApp methods by unelected bureaucrats, even suggests that the beastly Euro-wogs might consider developing their own arms industry, rather than importing from the mainland which has done so much to advance the cause of effective defence. It remains as yet unclear whether the resulting British bullet mountain can be satisfactorily absorbed by either the Metropolitan Police or our next world-beating trade deal with Micronesia.