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URGENT: Parliament urged to end taxpayers funding of Ukraine

The government is continuing with the previous Conservative government policies of funding Ukraine with UK taxpayers’ money

This letter ( below) has been sent to the Prime Minister urging a re-think on Russia and Ukraine policies, in the interests of the UK and its citizens.

The Prime Minister has been asked to urgently re-examine the consequences of its policies, as they are causing suffering and damage to the British public and world peace.

The letter requests a national Referendum on the issue if the government and Parliament do not change course.

The letter, from Independent Political Commentator Anthony Webber, said similar letters will be going to other MPs, as the policies are influencing aspects

of the budget and the state of the economy, which are detrimental to ordinary British citizens.

We urge people to email their MPs with copies of this letter to the Prime Minister, asking them what they are going to do about putting the UK first, not Ukraine first.

For the attention of The Rt.Hon. Sir Keir Starmer, MP

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Urgent request for the government to re-assess policies on Ukraine and Russia

Concerns about costs and consequences of these policies

I write to you as the UK Prime Minister, to express my concerns about the financial, economic, and political consequences of the Labour government’s continuance of the Conservative government’s policies on Ukraine and Russia.

You must have been aware that these policies could have adverse consequences on the UK and the British public.

The problem is that at no time has there been a proper rational debate about these policies and the British public have never been asked to give a mandate to them.

This is a serious democratic deficiency which was started by the previous government, but so far you have continued with this lack of democratic engagement and endorsement on this major issue.

UK has committed £18bn to Ukraine

We now have a situation where the government has committed another £3bn on top of the £12.8bn already committed, making a total of £15.8bn since the conflict started in February 2022.

This commitment has been increased by the government announcement of further funding, in this instance a “loan” of £2.26bn.

This will take the total so far from the UK of over £18bn, a staggering amount of money, which could have been put to far better use elsewhere as the government is not properly funding the range of services expected by their citizens

Reputational damage with Foreign policy decisions

Regarding the “loan,” the government has decided to misappropriate the interest generated by the total £300bn of frozen Russian assets held by several “western” countries,( using the UK’s £22.7bn portion of those funds).The government believes it is acceptable legally to use the profits from these frozen assets, but this legal opinion is likely to be challenged. Apart from the legality aspect, this action by the government has caused reputational damage to the UK. Other countries will be cautious about having assets which can be frozen by the UK government if they have a dispute with them.

It is also a policy which is not consistent, because Israel’s actions in the Middle East could also mean their British assets could be frozen and the profits used to rebuild the damage they have caused in Middle Eastern countries, but the government shows no sign of doing this.

“Western” taxpayers being swindled out of their hard-earned money

The bottom line is that this loan to Ukraine is most likely to end up being funded by the UK taxpayer.

This latest funding has been camouflaged as a loan which someone else will pay for, and it is nothing short of a duplicitous ploy to deceive the public.

The same is happening with the EU and the G7 countries, with a brash overriding of legal and reputational considerations.

The EU has approved 35bn Euros as part of a G7commitment of $50bn, which the UK government has also committed to.

It is said that the USA will commit $20bn, but that will hardly help the Democrat’s candidate in the Presidential elections.

The public in the countries of the USA, the UK, the EU, and theG7 should be the decision makers on such policies which will affect them directly.

There needs to be a Referendum on this important decision, not rubber stamped by those who deem it acceptable to impose their decisions without democratic endorsement.

Ukraine no longer has democratic principles

The whole scenario is complicated by the establishment of the “Ukraine Loan Co-operation Mechanism” but it is not made clear who is running this.

The public need assurances that it is not some global financial corporation with hedge funds involvement, who could make a huge profit out of it all.

The EU loans are supposedly conditional on “Ukraine’s continued adherence to democratic principles, human rights and other policy conditions.”

It is a struggle to find which of these is Ukraine adhering to.

Ukraine has banned opposition media and political parties, brought in censorship and free speech restrictions, persecuted one of the major Churches, and “postponed” elections.

Zelensky is no longer a legal President as his term of office expired weeks ago. He ironically was elected on a platform of peace, which he betrayed, so his chances of re-election would be slim.

It would be interesting if the UK laid down any similar conditions to those of the EU.

However, the reality is that whatever conditions are laid down, Ukraine takes no notice of them and gets away with it.

Is Ukraine a massive money laundering operation

The EU also states that “strict measures to prevent fraud and financial irregularities will apply” in respect of the money given to Ukraine.

This is also a hollow statement as Ukraine is still one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

Where is the transparency on what is happening with the billions given to Ukraine?

Where is the accountability? The lack of these essential requirements is a betrayal, simple as that.

The UK taxpayers need to know exactly where every penny of the money given to Ukraine has gone.

The UK also needs to know how much of the military aid has ended up being destroyed, as this aid has depleted UK military Defence stocks.

Using other states’ assets is banditry

This idea of freezing state assets and using the profits was described by one Euro MP as “theft and banditry.”

It is akin to taking the interest payments frome someone else’s bank account.

It is very important in world affairs to have high moral standards and not reduce those standards just because other countries may do so.

Why is the UK so poor at looking after its global national economic interests

This taking of other states’ assets is the sort of action which gives another reason why more countries are lining up to join BRICS, the rapidly emerging geopolitical block.

BRICS, named after the five initial members: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, covers 30% of the world’s surface and 45% of the global population.

Even though BRICS is seen as a rival to the G7 countries, they have their five initial members in the G20. BRICS offers many advantages, but in offering new banking and basket reserve currency arrangements, it is becoming a rival to $ hegemony.

The point is this: what is going wrong with UK Foreign policy? The UK should be much more closely aligned with India and South Africa, for historical reasons, but the ties have been allowed to loosen because of poor British diplomacy.

Ukraine is bankrupt and a lost cause

The facts are that Ukraine is virtually bankrupt and is entirely dependent on aid. It would collapse in days if that aid stopped.

All that UK and other aid does is prolong the agony for the Ukrainian people. They have had hundreds of thousands of dead and injured in their armed forces and their position is untenable.

There would have been a peace deal in by April 2022 if former Prime Minister Boris Johnson had not offered them UK taxpayers’ money to carry on fighting.

The result is that whatever peace deal they would have got then, would have been far better than they can achieve now.

There is little left for Ukrainians to fight for, especially as huge chunks of the country have been sold off to hedge funds like Black Rock

Hence daily, Ukrainians eligible for military service try to escape the country. Over a quarter of Ukrainians are refugees abroad even when they come from safe areas.

It seems that Ukraine has been used as a weapon to try to reduce Russia’s power and to attempt to control both Ukraine and Russia’s vast natural resources.

There must be honesty. This conflict is funded by “western” taxpayers not to help Ukrainians but to help global vested interests who are greedy for more financial and economic power.

The politicians have allowed themselves to fund the military aims of these investors, instead of looking after the interests of their own people.

The British public cannot be expected to provide funding for Ukraine for “as long as it takes.”

It is an untenable objective not aligned with best British interests.

Rising energy and food costs mainly caused by government Ukraine/Russia policies

The economic consequences for the British public of their government’s Ukraine/Russia policies have been disastrous.

A comparison of prices pre the start of the official conflict in Ukraine on February 22nd 2022 and now reveals shocking increases in costs of living and energy.

Most of these rises are due to taking sides in this conflict and sanctioning Russia, which has been counterproductive.

Russia has a strong economy and a stronger position in the world.

The potential of Russia’s trading importance to the UK was recognised years ago when there were Royal visits to Russia and President Putin visited the late Her Majesty the Queen. Trading with both Russia and Ukraine is important, which is why a policy of neutrality and engagement with both is the most sensible economically and strategically.

The longer the UK is not neutral ( the majority of world countries are neutral) the more difficult it will be to re-establish favourable trading ties with Russia.

It takes a strong nation with strong leadership to have the courage to be humble and to seek reconciliation.

Parliament must put UK first not Ukraine first

It is important for Parliament to reject any loan arrangements to Ukraine and to stop the haemorrhaging of precious taxpayers’ money into a never-ending black hole.

Even if the government and Parliament are not prepared to do this, then their decision should be put to a national Referendum.

This is an issue which needs direct democracy on.

Call for a national Referendum

Better still, a Referendum to decide on ending the funding for Ukraine and becoming a neutral peacemaker, would be more appropriate.

This will ensure there is full, open and transparent debate on an issue which has had proper debate effectively censored so far.

It is important for the government to look after British interests in both its home and foreign policies.

In recent years the UK government has lost sight of what is in British interests and pursued policies which are in the interests of others.

At least the involvement in Afghanistan had laudable achievements: the reduction in Islamist fundamentalism, the improving of human and women’s rights and education, the setting up of democratic institutions and some reduction of refugees. This cost £1bn a year, a faction of the Ukraine cost, yet the Afghan people were abandoned callously by doing a “deal” with the Taliban, to focus on Ukraine.

The Ukraine involvement has meant a failure and approximately 300,000 Ukrainian refugees in the UK, at an additional cost of approximately £1bn a year.

Meanwhile extremist neo-Nazis in Ukraine, who glorify in what their predecessors did on the Nazi side in the Second World War, have been given too much influence and have pursued a hatred of Russia and the Russian language.

In this modern day and age, it is important to encourage mutual tolerance, respect, and peace, not hatred and antagonism.

World peace is the way forward

It is time to be honest with the public about Ukraine and to change government policies without delay.

Most people want their government to aspire to world peace, not world war.

Government policies on Ukraine have pushed democratic Russia in the direction of communist China and North Korea.

A nuclear and conventional arms race has started up again, and there is more global insecurity.

This is a far cry from the successful peace-making initiatives of former USA President Ronald Reagan and former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Most people want their governments to aspire to world peace, not world war.

So far, the government can be accused of being complicit in needless deaths in both Ukraine and the Middle East because of taking sides, rather than acting as peacemakers.

I hope you will confirm what action you will take as the Prime Minister to address the issues raised in this email.

It could help the Labour party to admit to massive blunders which will be rectified, as that will help the credibility of the party in the future.

It will also help the credibility of Parliament and government, who people increasingly see as working against the interests of the UK and its citizens.

I thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to your response.

With kind regards and best wishes

Anthony Webber

anthonywebber@cwgsy.net

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