Shame

Rhetoric underpinned by action can be a powerful tool in War. It boosts morale at home and can weaken that of the enemy. Rhetoric unsupported by actions does the reverse.

We are constantly told that Britain is leading the world in sanctions against Russian oligarchs and in accepting refugees. However, the reality is a pathetic, weak, slow and incompetent response on both fronts.

It seems incredible that action on sanctions is being delayed because of government's desire to ensure that what it cannot be subject to legal challenge. This is a government whose leader is currently under investigation for breaking the law. It has picked an awful time to be scrupulous about legal matters.

What we should have done is take a precautionary approach and put all of the oligarchs named by the EU and the US on to our list and frozen their assets in this country and in all our dependancies. We should then have established an appeal system to enable those who have been dealt with unfairly to recover control of their assets.

However, we should have put Priti Patel in charge of setting up the appeal system. That way the need for the sanctions would probably have long passed by the time anyone secured a decision.

When we see what Poland and other front line countries are doing it makes you ashamed to be British.