I am no historian, but I have a theory as to why the United Kingdom is such a solid and dependable ally of Ukraine. It is because in Ukraine, we see ourselves, the plucky island off mainland Europe, fighting the fascist invader. It draws on the myth of our ‘darkest hour’ a quote generally attributed to our great World War II leader Winston Churchill during the early part of the war. Moreover, I don’t think it matters that Churchill probably never said it because it still sums up how our forefathers felt.
Of course, things are very different today in that today’s fascists are Russia and not Germany and the plucky defenders of their nation are in Ukraine and we are not directly comparing Germany’s 1939 invasion of Poland as a direct parallel with what Putin’s Russia has done. But there are similarities, in more ways than you might think.
The Ukraine invasion is unquestionably a land grab and many people fear that if Putin ‘wins’, he won’t stop with Ukraine. In the main, the British people supported the declaration of war against Germany and our subsequent involvement. That support is still there today, in the form of our annual Remembrance events and services. And we rightly retain great pride in how we stood up to and eventually defeated fascism. Later, in World War II, after Pearl Harbour, the USA got heavily involved. In 2025, the USA of Donald Trump can no longer be relied upon to stand by our side.
Indeed, the whole axis of power has shifted so that not only do we find Russia being the evil oppressor, the fascist dictator, the signs are that the USA is closer to fascist Russia than it is to Europe. I am convinced that most of us have recognised that.
In the UK, the three main parties, Labour, Conservatives and Lib Dems are strongly opposed to Putin’s invasion. While there are strong Trump supporters in the Tory party, including much of its leadership team, they have so far held the line against Putin. Only Nigel Farage’s private limited company, Reform UK, appears to hedge its bets, with its self-appointed leader Farage known to be an admirer of Putin and says little that could be seen as criticism of Trump and Putin. My loyal reader can make up their own mind as to what they think about that.
I cannot see our position changing. Despite the onslaught from compliant social media platforms, like Elon Musk’s X, we see through the torrent of propaganda and bullshit. We do not like bullies like Putin and Trump, but we do admire, and feel empathy with, heroes like President Zelenskyy. The only difference between most of us is in how we react to Trump’s deplorable actions, not if we find them deplorable in the first place.
All this makes me proud to be British. We are usually on the side of the good guys and in a world where the bad guys appear to be calling the shots that’s no bad thing.
