NEWS 5
19 February 2022 THE WEEK...and how they were covered
Whatnext?
Putinis amaster at what military expertscall “compellence strategy”,said KeirGilesin The
Guardian. That’s shorthand forusing thethreat offorceto extract concessions.Russian
propagandists push theidea thatconfronting Moscow “risksalmostinevitable escalation to
nuclearwar”, when,inreality, Moscow hasarecordof backingdown when adversaries
demonstrate“willand determination”.Putin andhis gang only respect “hard power”, agreed
AnneApplebauminTheAtlantic.Westernleadersand diplomats still haven’tgrasped this.
They think whentheygotoMoscow thatthey canwinpeopleround with argumentsand talk
ofthe greatergood.But the Russianeliteonly careabout threats to theirimmediateinterests.The problem is theWest is not really inapositionto issue credible threats toPutin today,given
thestrength of Russia’sfinances,said Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in TheDaily Telegraph. The
countryhas amassed foreign exchange reserves of $635bn,isrunningabudgetsurplusandis
backedby China.The Westwarns of“devastating”sanctions,butthe Kremlin could cutoffall
gassupplies to Europe –41%of the EU’ssupply–fortwo yearsor more “without running
intoserious financial buffers”. IfRussiadoes stepback from aninvasion, itwon’t befor fear of
Western sanctions.It will bebecause“Germany and France havepromised behindcloseddoors
togive him what hewants”, or becausePutin thinks Ukraine might offerstrong resistance.That latter factormustbeweighing on hismind, said KatieStallard inthe NewStatesman.
When Putinseized Crimeaandstartedthe warineasternUkraine in2014,Ukrainehad asmall
army. Since then, theUS alone has spent more than $2.7bn on training andequipmentfor the
country,andKyiv hasrecruitedalmost 100 ,00 0 moretroops.Opposition to Russiahas also
grown.In 2011,aPew poll found 84 %ofUkrainian respondents viewed Russiafavourably; by
201 9, that hadfallento 32%. Putin “can claim tohave forced aserious discussion ofEurope’s
securityarchitecture withtheUS”.But he won’t succeedinf orcingUkraineinto Russia’sorbit.
“The more hethreatens, thefurther and faster hewillpushit away.”What the commentators said
Russia’s lower house of
parliamentvoted thisweek to
ask Putin to recognise the
independence ofthe two
Russian-backedbreakaway
regions ineasternUkraine,
reports The Guardian. Ina
sign that he will seekto use
them as leverage, Putinsaid
he wouldnot recognise the
“republics”immediately,but
called on Natotonegotiate
Russia’s securityguarantees
before itwas “too late”.Nato is drawingup long-term
plans to reinforcethe
alliance’s southeastern flank
against Russianaggression,
says BrunoWaterfieldin The
Times. This could see 4,
troops deployedto Romania
and Bulgaria. It would bethe
biggest escalation of Nato’s
“force posture” against
Russiain six years.Whatnext?
Frankly, I’mamazedDick lasted as longasshedid, saidSam Greenhillint he DailyMail.Even
before shegot thetopjob,hercareermight have endedowing tothe 2005operationinwhich
an innocent man,Jean Charles deMenezes,was shot deadbyofficerswhomistookhim fora
terrorist.In recent years, there havebeen several “disasters”onher watch:fromOperation
Midland(fictitious VIPsex abuseallegations)to herresponse to Everard’s killingby aserving
PC, which she putdown tothe odd “bad’un” inthe Met’s ranks.A“jaw-dropping” report
last yearinto the 1987killing of private investigator Daniel Morgansaid theMetwas
“institutionallycorrupt”, andthat Dick personallyobstructedthe search forthe truth. Her
bread-and-butterpolicingrecord wasno better,said LeoMcKinstryin the DailyExpress. Last
year,arecord 30teenagerswerekilled inLondon, whereonly3.8% ofburglarieswere solved.Even so, saidFiona Hamilton in The Times,this was adramatic fallfor anofficeronce viewed
as “thebestofher generation”.Senior colleaguesrated her“calmbut resolute manner”; rank-
and-file officers liked her willingness togoouttobat for them. Yet her“Met lifer” instinctto
defendcolleaguesultimatelycontributed to herdownfall:she continued todenythere were
widespreadproblems in theface of mountingevidence.Now,the debateturns towhoshould
take over ajobmany seeasa“poisonedchalice”,running avast organisationfacing budget
cuts running intothe billionsand ebbing public confidence. The joblookstoo big for one
personto do properly,said HenryHill inThe DailyTelegraph. Sowhy notsplitthe unwieldy
Met up?Anormal constabularycouldfocus on“better po licing forLondoners”and answer to
the Mayor; andanationalbodycould be accountabletot he Home Officeand take chargeof
areas such as close protection,counter-terrorand aviation policing. Dick’s departure“offer sa
long-overdue opportunity foranoverhaul of this country’s largest police force”. Let’s seize it.What the commentators said
Dickwillremaininpost for
an unspecifiedperi od to
ensure an orderlyhandover
to her successor.Paid a
salary ofabout£230,000,
she’d recently signedatwo-
year extension to her con-
tract, whichhad been due
to expire in April.Her pay-
off could exceed £400,000,
reportsTheTimes.Early front-runners to
succeed herincludeSir
Mark Rowley, an ex-head
of anti-terrorism; Andy
Cooke, the former
Merseysidechief; Louisa
Rolfe,asenior Met officer
and specialistontackling
violence againstwomen;
and Steve Kavanagh,the
former Essexchief.Deception is an ancient art, which is no doubt why the English
language is so rich in synonyms for fraud: swindle, fiddle, sting,
scam, racket and con, to name butafew. Modern technology,
however, has permitted this scourge to flourish, as recent figures from the Office for National
Statistics prove. More than 14,000 people in the UK now fall victim to some variety of fraud each
day, much of it online, yet the rate of crimes prosecuted has dwindled to one in 1,000. Why is there
suchalackofurgency in tackling this offence, which has soared during the pandemic? One senior
police watchdog said it isalow priority for politicians, because they see it as “an invisible crime”.
That explanation gained traction recently when Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, defended
Boris Johnson’s claim that crime had fallen by 14% over two years–afigure only accurate if fraud
were excluded–byargui ng that Johnson was only speaking of crimes people experienced in “their
day-to-day lives”. But fraud has indeed infiltrated our daily lives, from bank card scams to regular
cold calls from booming, bogus voices claiming to be from HMRC. Victims frequently feel shame
along with financial devastation, because increasingly sophisticated cons so often prey on trusting
natures. Yet trust is the glue that holds society together, andalandscape soaked in false
representations of authority ends up undermining faith in authority itself.
Left unchecked, fraud is hollowing out more than just our bank accounts.THEWEEK
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