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Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Defence Secretary Wes Streeting of going "AWOL", telling LBC he has no plan to combat Russia's "hybrid warfare" tactics threatening the stability of Europe and NATO.
Speaking on Monday, the Leader of the Opposition slammed the Government for failing to issue a strong response despite other European leaders raising the alarm following recent acts of Russian aggression on European soil.
While Polish PM Donald Tusk and French President Emmanuel Macron have warned the threat of Russian hybrid attacks on Europe is growing, Ms Badenoch says their British counterparts have gone silent.
Andrew Marr speaks to Victoria Coates, Former Deputy National Security Advisor to Donald Trump.
#andrewmarr #donaldtrump #russia #warfare #nato #ukpolitics #uspolitics #drones #lbc
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0:00
We're doomed! We're all doomed
0:03
The Russians are coming! Running out of options, President Putin is planning a sudden, drastic move
0:09
which will panic us all. Tin hats on, everyone. It's about to get really bad
0:17
Or, on the other hand, not. The frontline Baltic states, and many wise observers of these things
0:24
tell us that the only thing going on is a psychological operation by the Russians
0:29
to scare the bejesus out of us, confuse us, demoralise us and, with any luck, persuade us
0:35
to stop supporting that wicked regime in Kyiv. It's true that we're all living in a news downpipe
0:42
which feels designed to keep us on the edge of our seats, always nervous, never confident
0:49
Just this weekend, there were grave warnings of a new escalation in the Iran versus America war
0:55
with President Trump cutting short plans and returning hastily to the White House
0:59
while the Iranian military put itself on red alert. And again, maybe something, maybe nothing
1:07
What is absolutely clear is that Andy Burnham's chirpy enthusiasm for staying on the domestic agenda is already impossible to sustain
1:18
Tonight, he's off to New York for meetings with, among others, Donald Trump
1:23
Last week, France's President Macron called a meeting of the other political leaders in France
1:28
and basically turned their blood to ice about the Russian threat. And that has persuaded British politicians that we also need to hit the panic button
1:38
Here's the opposition leader, Kemi Badenok. The Defence Secretary has gone AWOL. I mean, where is he
1:45
Haven't heard anything from him. Instead, we're seeing Macron scrambling together, everyone, including opposition forces
1:52
We saw the statements that came from Donald Tusk just a few weeks ago
1:57
Leipzig airport was attacked. The Germans said the Russians were behind it
2:01
We are in an era of hybrid warfare. Something is going on
2:05
And I don't think our government has a plan. Now exactly what can be done both quickly and usefully is harder to say At the very least all of this makes it impossible for next month budget not to be heavily focused on an increase in defence spending
2:23
And that in turn makes life quite a lot harder for both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor with the Labour-backed benches
2:30
So let's start by getting an American perspective as we wait for Mr Burnham to have his meeting with President Trump
2:36
Victoria Coates was Deputy National Security Advisor in the first Trump administration
2:41
and she is Vice President of the Heritage Foundation. Victoria, welcome to the show. Thanks for joining me
2:48
Can I ask, first of all, whether there is a sense in Washington at all that a major Russian move or escalation is imminent
2:57
Well, I think, Andrew, there's a sense that something is afoot. I mean, bear in mind, we had in August the extraordinary visit of our CIA director, John Ratcliffe, to Moscow
3:07
That is rare. It does happen. But the last time it happened was when Bill Burns, who was the Biden-era CIA director, went a day or so before the invasion of Ukraine
3:16
So it means something fairly serious is going on. We also had reporting from the U.K. that the government was going to tell y'all to, you know, stockpile 72 hours of tinned food and water
3:28
That didn't seem to come to pass. But yes, I definitely agree. I mean, there are signals of
3:34
unease and questions about what's actually going on in Russia that might prompt Putin to make such
3:41
a move. Well, that isn't very reassuring. Let me ask you also about these reports that President
3:46
Trump cut short his visits and returned to the White House over the weekend ahead of what looks
3:51
like an escalation in the war with Iran. What's your sense of that
3:57
My understanding is the return to the White House was actually prompted by an airplane making an
4:02
incursion into the airspace over Camp David. And the Secret Service, with an abundance of caution
4:09
not knowing what that was, it checked out. It wound up being nothing. But they're not taking
4:13
any chances with President Trump's security after all of the assassination attempts, let alone all
4:20
the threats that are coming in against him constantly. So at the same time, I mean, he wants to make clear to everyone that all of his options are
4:28
on the table in Iran We continue to move more equipment into the Middle East And so if he wishes to do anything against the Houthi for example against the proxies in Iraq and against Iran itself
4:42
he's demonstrated repeatedly over the summer that he's willing to take that option. So
4:46
it could have happened, didn't this weekend. We'll wait and see what happens next weekend
4:50
Well, I'm really interested in what you said about the Houthis, because, of course
4:54
the big issue at the moment is the complete failure of Saudi Arabia to push the Houthis back
4:59
They seem to be losing that conflict. And indeed, they've lost their main east-west pipeline for a
5:04
bit. That's very important to the world's supply of crude oil. And again, there's a big question
5:10
mark, I guess, in the rest of the world as to President Trump's attitude to Saudi Arabia at
5:15
the moment. Is he prepared to back them? Is he prepared to help them? Well, I think it depends
5:20
on what Saudi is prepared to do. So yes, the disruption of petroline, that's between five
5:25
and seven million dollars a day, barrels of oil a day between east to west to go out of the Red
5:33
Sea. That's been a very, very important workaround during the Iran conflict. So that is very bad
5:41
I think the president's going to ask the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, what's in it for me
5:46
You know, you just signed this Mecca pact with Pakistan and Turkey
5:51
They said they were providing you Article 5 types of defenses. And, I mean, the Houthi just destroyed your pipeline
5:58
They shelled Riyadh. I mean, that seems to me like it would trigger an Article 5-like element from NATO
6:06
And we haven't seen hide nor hair of either the Turks or the Paks. So I think President Trump can say to MBS, okay, you know, you need our help
6:14
Nobody likes the Houthi. And so what is it going to be for us to participate in that
6:21
And I think it's very clear that it's Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords
6:26
And in that case, Saudi, for them, also gets security cooperation from Israel, which is
6:32
really what they need more than anything. They need the kind of missile defenses that Israel was willing to deploy to UAE during
6:39
the hot part of the conflict to defend the Emirates. That was an extraordinary thing
6:43
And then they also need partnership with Egypt because while Saudi has a very capable air force Egypt has a very capable navy and that really important in the Red Sea Really interesting And I assume at the same time he be saying
6:56
you've got new friends, use them. Can I ask you finally about tomorrow's meeting
7:01
between President Trump and our new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham? First of all
7:06
what impression you think Trump has had so far of Burnham, if any, if any? And second
7:12
what Mr. Burnham would be well advised to be offering in terms of any talks about deals and
7:18
so forth? Well, it is my hope that the relationship between the president and the prime minister
7:24
like that between President Trump and Prime Minister Starmer is a working relationship
7:29
Obviously, they have significant and deep political differences. But the president of
7:34
the United States and the prime minister of the United Kingdom have to have a working relationship
7:39
I mean, everyone who's worked within that alliance knows there are things that just
7:44
have to go on, and it goes up to the top. So I was encouraged to see the prime minister come out favorably about the Greenland deal
7:51
which is extremely significant to us. I think that if he is going to talk about some increased permitting for exploration
8:00
of natural resources in the Black Sea, that will also be very well received
8:05
North Sea. I'm sorry, North Sea. At least I didn't say Caspian
8:09
It could have been. That would have been a great story. Yes, that would have been interesting
8:16
We could have broken news. But no, I think these things will be well received by the president
8:21
And hopefully they will get to that kind of regular working relationship that's necessary for both of us
8:28
And a bit of to and fro, I would imagine, about the Falkland Islands, probably and the Chagos Islands as well
8:33
I think, you know, the Falklands for all of us, you know, at the Heritage Foundation
8:39
we have the Thatcher Center for Freedom. Lady Thatcher founded it with her own money
8:43
to be her think tank in the United States. We are firm defenders of the sovereignty
8:47
of the Falklands. And we are also very strong defenders of having Chagos remain a military
8:55
base for both the United Kingdom and the United States. Well, I'm sure Andy Burnham has been well briefed on both of those things
9:03
Victoria Coates thank you so much for talking to LBC tonight
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