There’s no doubting the charisma of its leader, but Reform UK lacks the depth and experience needed to govern – and voters are quickly realising that, says Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins
Moreover, Britain has no obligation to defend Ukraine. Nor does it have an obligation to deter or confront what appears to be an imminent Russian attack. The country has no alliance with Ukraine. Ukraine is not a member of Nato. And Britain has no significant means of influencing the outcome of a battle on the ground. For these reasons, it should stay well out of the situation.
We may choose to exert soft power over Moscow, through cultural, educational and economic forces but we cannot police Putin’s borders or stop him mistreating his neighbours. That is not our business.
Russia’s border disputes with its neighbours have nothing whatsoever to do with Britain.
Those two are both from January 2022. More recently, he has said:
Boris Johnson could not stay out of Kyiv’s central square. We can shower Ukraine with charity, but this is not Britain’s long-term dispute and no amount of public hysteria will make it so.
Trump’s clear intention is to bring two bitter wars to an end through personal charisma. He relies on his impact on other equally egotistic leaders standing in his way. Ukraine is at stalemate. Trump simply pleads for a stop to the fighting, a stop to the killing and a return of soldiers to their homes and families. We can call it vanity and egotism, but so what? It is a plea for peace from the world’s most powerful leader. We should wish Trump well in his effort, and congratulate him if he succeeds.
Wasn’t Simon Jenkins the thinker who asserted that Ukraine should surrender and NATO should leave Russia’s “traditional sphere of influence”?
Could you please provide a quote or reference for that?
From here https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/24/autonomy-eastern-ukraine-crisis-nato-russia-minsk
From here https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/20/britain-russia-ukraine-border-dispute
Those two are both from January 2022. More recently, he has said:
Here, September 2025 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/24/autonomy-eastern-ukraine-crisis-nato-russia-minsk
Here, October 2025 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/20/gaza-ukraine-donald-trump-stop-war-peace