It’s not just Britain that must increase its readiness to defend our freedoms… our allies must too

No defence

HISTORY has taught us that if you want peace you must prepare for war.

Any sign of weakness or complacency is an open invitation for madmen like Russian dictator Putin and the serial funders of terrorism in Tehran to stoke conflict.

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So it is shocking how woefully ill-equipped Britain’s military is and how, as things stand, this country could not fight an all-out war if one was waged against us.

The world is more dangerous than it has been for decades and it would be foolish to dismiss the multiple threats we face or ignore the attacks already taking place.

But it is not just Britain that must increase its readiness to defend our precious freedoms.

Just 11 of the 31 NATO member countries, including the UK, met their defence spending commitments last year. Germany didn’t. Nor France, or Italy.

Ireland hardly even bothers, content to freeload.

It’s the same when it comes to tackling the Iran-backed Houthi thugs in Yemen.

Their terrorist attacks on shipping are hitting the economies of many in the West, but it is left to the US and the UK to do the heavy lifting, defending the international trade route.

It’s time our allies took seriously their joint responsibilities to the safety of us all.

Asylum risk

HOW can Education Secretary Gillian Keegan suggest the appalling chemical attack in Clapham was “not really” about asylum?

The suspect, a convicted sex offender, was granted asylum instead of being deported when he should have been?

The wholescale abuse of the asylum system — to the disadvantage of genuine asylum-seekers and the benefit of those who can afford to pay ruthless people smugglers — goes hand in hand with the failure to remove people who have no right to be in this country.

That includes dangerous criminals.

Complicit in this travesty is an army of left-wing campaigners, from “human rights” lawyers to Labour MPs and peers.

Add to that bleeding-heart air passengers who prevent the removal of rapists, obstructive Home Office staff, gullible church leaders and even a BBC editor hired as an “expert witness” to help Somalian criminals stay here.

Their dogma puts us all in danger.

Taxing taxes

IT’S great to see the axing of the green tax on boiler producers which The Sun has long campaigned against.

The cost would have been passed on to struggling bill-payers while doing little to increase the uptake of expensive heat pumps.

It would be crazy, however, for the Government to now slap a VAT “taxi tax” on minicabs — when it could be a kiss of death for the hospitality trade.