Ukraine crisis must change us for better

THE DAYS of buck-passing and free-loading are over. A tough new future beckons. Europe is now in the grip of a deepening security crisis unleashed by a series of extraordinary interventions from the White House over the war in Ukraine, led by Donald Trump's savage attack this week on President Zelensky.

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Fear and outrage are sweeping through the chancelleries of the continent. Here in Britain, the main party leaders denounce the US President for bolstering Putin, inverting morality about the conflict and abandoning the defence of Europe, which has been a cornerstone of US foreign policy since the Second World War. Regardless of the outcome of the negotiations over Ukraine if they proceed, it is clear that Europe must take far more responsibility for our defence.

Our past, unbalanced relationship with America bred a mood of complacent dependency, where European governments could lavish money on generous benefits and bloated state bureaucracies without having to worry too much about self-protection.

It is a remarkable fact that Europe contains just 7% of the world's population and 25% of the global economy, yet it accounts for more than half the world's welfare spending. But now our leaders will have to make national defence a top priority. This will require determination, vision and perseverance.

Tragically, those qualities seem to be in short supply at present.