Lee Dechan 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

So the UK's 10-year gilt yield - the cost of government borrowing - is now up at 2008 levels. An 18-year high The difference is that, back then, UK national debt was 48pc of GDP, and now it's the best part of 100pc. So the debt service costs are much MUCH heavier. Of the £14.3bn the UK government borrowed in February alone, no less than £13bn of that was spent on interest on existing debts - a situation which is not only unsustainable, but very close to provoking a disastrous financial collapse. Yet still, our national discourse is all about more spending, more borrowing, more "state intervention". When is the Labour party – and much of the listless, unthinking rump of the UK's political and media class – going to start acknowledging reality? WHEN ....?

Breaking: Britain has given the US the green light to use RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia to carry out raids on Iranian missile sites that are attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz It's the same legal basis as before - collective self-defence - but the targets are new. They are being described once again as 'US defensive operations' rather than offensive strikes “Ministers condemned Iran’s expansion of its targets to include international shipping. They agreed that Iran’s reckless strikes, including on Red Ensign vessels and those of our close allies and Gulf partners, risked pushing the region further into crisis and worsening the economic impact being felt in the UK and around the world. “They confirmed that the agreement for the US to use UK bases in the collective self-defence of the region includes US defensive operations to degrade the missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz. “They reaffirmed that the principles behind the UK’s approach to the conflict remain the same: the UK remains committed to defending our people, our interests and our allies, acting in accordance with international law and not getting drawn into the wider conflict. “Ministers underlined the need for urgent de-escalation and a swift resolution to the war.”