Britain must lift fracking ban, axe HS2 and spend the savings on defence
Power crazed
THE deranged shelling of a nuclear plant is a terrifying reality check for anyone still maintaining Vladimir Putin is the master tactician working to a meticulous plan.
Raining missiles on the Zaporizhzhia site could have unleashed a deadly fallout cloud across Europe, Russia included. Only luck prevented a catastrophe ten times worse than Chernobyl.
This assault, plus the slaughter of civilians, destruction of cities and the threat of public executions, are the war crimes and terrorist acts of a panicking madman whose invasion has foundered.
Putin is now at his most dangerous, a threat to the world. A nuclear-armed maniac wielding absolute power.
A dictator past caring about life, perhaps now including his own, and certainly past caring for Russia’s people, its economy or global standing.
In one horrific week he has destroyed them.
For now, Nato can only continue pouring in munitions to bolster Ukraine’s heroic defence. We must deploy every cyber weapon we have and get vital aid to refugees and the millions sheltering from Russian terror.
Some hope lies with those in the Kremlin aghast at what Putin has done.
Boris Johnson cannot publicly back the assassination of another world leader, even Putin, but such an act — perhaps by dissidents known to exist in Russia’s Federal Security Service — may yet save millions of lives.
Our Government has mainly risen well to the scale of this threat. But it must now act much more radically.
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In a week Germany has entirely reassessed its stance on Russian gas, its own power plants and its military. The world has changed . . . Downing Street must think the previously unthinkable too.
It must scrap the £100billion HS2 railway and spend the savings on defence and new nuclear power plants.
It must immediately lift the fracking ban, as The Sun has repeatedly urged and as ex-MI6 head Sir Richard Dearlove did too yesterday. That will not just boost and secure our gas supplies but help the EU ditch its Russian imports.
A radical Spring Budget this month must abandon April’s foolish tax rise, slash VAT and green levies on energy and cut fuel duty. With the war sending rising inflation into orbit, our economic woes are just beginning.
Government dogma must not make them worse.
Game changer
SHANE Warne wasn’t just a great bowler. He was arguably the best in history.
The Aussie leg-spinner’s magical talent and cricketing nous bamboozled and out-thought the finest batsmen.
He was a legend off the field too, fun-loving and hard living. An irresistible character. His commentary was unmissable for its insight, authority and wit.
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His sudden death at just 52 is a heartbreaking tragedy for his family and friends, for Australia and for cricket.
RIP, Warnie. What a life. What a loss.