In her speech, Liz Truss gave a robust defence of freedom and democracy. She was spot on about the UK’s record of being beholden to autocratic regimes for both cheap goods and energy and she is right that this must stop. Furthermore, her comments surrounding Ukraine will be extremely welcomed by Zelensky, reaffirming Britain as one of Kyiv’s strongest allies.
It was extremely encouraging to hear her commitment to increasing the amount we spend on defence to 3% of GDP by the end of this decade. With tensions rising across the planet, maintaining a strong military force, and more importantly being seen to maintain a strong military force is essential in staring down would be aggressors.
And when it comes to dealing with aggressors, she was again correct in highlighting that the UK left it too late to stand up tor Russia. Any foreign power who watched that speech will be left in no doubt that British foreign policy has become considerably more hawkish in defence of free, democratic nations.