Why the latest right-wing Tory MP to defect to Reform is a new low for Farage

Good old Aesop was spot-on when he said “a man is known by the company he keeps”.

It’s a saying that Nigel Farage would do well to observe, or not. Because does the Reform UK leader really care what others think, does he sincerely believe, for instance, that Andrew Rosindell is a fine addition to the party roster?

The former shadow minister and MP for Romford is not somebody that the Tories, even in their present predicament, should miss. If Robert Jenrick has “something of the night about him”, as was said about by Ann Widdecombe about Michael Howard and has been repeated in relation to the former shadow justice secretary’s defection, then the latest Reform adornment inhabits a very dark space indeed.

Rosindell, 59, has chosen to major on the Tories’ lack of support for the Chagos Islanders as forcing him out. That’s what Farage also focused on, saying: “The Tories’ lies and hypocrisy over the Chagos Islands betrayal has tipped him over the edge, and we are delighted to welcome him to our ranks.” All very upstanding, as Rosindell accused the government and main opposition of having “been complicit in the surrender of this sovereign British territory to a foreign power”.

What Farage chose to ignore is the rest of Rosindell that ought to make any seeker of the highest office in the land think twice about welcoming him. It is a residue from a heap of right-wing detritus, an indelible stain that no matter how hard Rosindell or his new leader tries, cannot be scrubbed clean. Rosindell represents a new low, even for Farage and Reform.

Farage might want to wonder why it was that, despite being an MP for 25 years, during that period, Rosindell was not appointed a minister by five Conservative prime ministers. David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak all saw fit to pass him over for promotion.

Campaigning with his trusty Staffordshire bull terrier Spike, the dog bedecked in a Union Jack waistcoat, he hardly conveyed an image the inclusive Tory party wanted to send. That came with support for the death penalty, detention of asylum seekers, membership of the hardline Monday Club (a breeding kennel for Reform) and with loathing of lowering the age of consent for gay people and same-sex marriage laws.

He has repeatedly voted against LGBT rights laws and defended the Thatcherite Section 28 law banning “promoting homosexuality” in schools. Fumed Rosindell: “Where would it end? You could finish up at a stage where the monarchy is this country is in a same-sex marriage and that would have constitutional implications.”

Yeah right.

There was his failed bid to introduce a law to create a special customs queue for people in countries where the Queen was head of state and he wanted more pictures of Her Majesty and royal symbols to be displayed at UK borders.

In a row over the National Trust and colonial links to stately homes, he harrumphed in a letter to The Daily Telegraph about the ultimately middle-class charity, renowned for the courtesy of its guides and cream teas and scones, as being “coloured by cultural Marxist dogma”.

In the MPs’ expenses scandal, the same Daily Telegraph outed Rosindell as having “claimed more than £125,000 in second home expenses for a flat in London, while designating his childhood home 17 miles away – where his mother lived – as his main address”. Rosindell, between “2006 and 2008, claimed the maximum £400 a month for food”. “I don’t think it’s unreasonable to claim £20 a day for food,” he told The Daily Telegraph at the time. “That barely covers the cost of my subsistence.”

In 2010, the BBC reported he had breached parliamentary rules by accepting subsidised overseas trips to Gibraltar and subsequently raising pro-Gibraltar issues in the Commons without disclosing the visits in the Register of Members’ Interests. He was later identified as among a small group of backbenchers who had little compunction in taking a high number of foreign jollies – more than their fellow MPs. His travel record included 16 freebies in Gibraltar and 29 to other far-flung destinations, valued at £45,000.

This is a man who sponsored the first “Erotica” event in parliament, insisting he was promoting the hosts who hailed from his constituency.

On the roll-call of dishonour goes. He was a self-professed “huge” admirer of Chilean dictator General Pinochet. Someone, too, who questioned the ability of Rachel Reeves to do her job (she was then shadow secretary for work and pensions) in a possibly imminent Labour government because she was due maternity leave and would be caring for a young child when she returned to a ministerial post – prompting Rosindell’s boss David Cameron to call his comments “outrageous”.

If Kemi Badenoch said Robert Jenrick’s going was “a good day” for the Conservatives and that Jenrick was “now Nigel Farage’s problem”, she would be entitled to say it even louder in regard to Rosindell. But presumably, his new bedfellows, travellers and all, don’t see him like that. Rosindell should give pause to any serious political aspirant. Farage is desperate to be treated as that person – but is going about it in a funny way.

Mapped: Every country Trump has attacked or threatened in a year of ‘America First’

When US president Donald Trump began his second term in office, it was on the promise of putting “America first”.

For many of his MAGA supporters, that meant rejecting interventionist policies that had overextended the country’s military commitments across the globe.

His National Security Strategy, published last year, promised that “the affairs of other countries are our concern only if their activities directly threaten our interests”.

But since his return last January, the US commander-in-chief has pursued an aggressive foreign policy, greenlighting military strikes on multiple countries, seizing oil tankers and overseeing the shock overnight capture of Nicolas Maduro that led to the decapitation of the Venezuelan government.

Other targets have included Iran, Iraq and Somalia, among others. Trump is far from the only US president to launch military action in the Middle East – Biden, Obama, Clinton, both Bushes, and Reagan have all done so over the last 50 years. The US also has a long-running history of intervention in Latin American countries.

However, it is Trump’s ongoing threats to take Greenland, a Nato territory, that is causing particular concern across Europe now.

“The larger picture of Trump’s foreign policy is one of transactional disruption rather than strategic leadership,” Aurélien Colson, academic director at the ESSEC Business School Institute for Geopolitics & Business, told The Independent.

Colson says that Trump’s National Security Strategy exposed his intent to “undermine the EU as a political and strategic actor”. The document claimed that the continent was facing “civilisational erasure”.

“The so-called ‘Donroe Doctrine’ openly revives a logic of spheres of influence,” he explains. Trump joked that the Monroe Doctrine – associated with exerting control over the Western hemisphere and warning about a Europeanisation of America – could now be dubbed the “Donroe Doctrine”, a clear indication of his intentions.

But, while Trump has made some historic statements and carried out unprecedented military action, Colson says that much of his behaviour can be interpreted as bluster.

“Trump’s moves are driven less by coherent geopolitical objectives than by a mix of narcissistic posturing (which even his own administration finds difficulties to cope with), domestic political signalling, and personal financial interests: from his admiration for strongmen to policies that align with opaque business networks, including crypto-financial channels,” he says.

“What he appears to seek is not a stable international order, but a world in which power is personalised, deals are opaque, and loyalty matters more than rules. The consequences are deeply negative, of course, for the world order, and for specific states such as Ukraine, but also for the USA: alliances are weakened, American credibility eroded, and strategic rivals emboldened.”

Colson explains: “Far from ‘America First’, the outcome is increasingly ‘America Isolated’: mistrusted by partners and progressively less able to shape the rules of the international system it once led – to its own benefit.”

Below The Independent looks at the countries where Trump has taken military action in the last 12 months, and where he could strike next.

In February last year, 10 days after his inauguration, Trump launched a series of military strikes against Isis key figures in Somalia.

“The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians. Our Military has targeted this Isis Attack Planner for years, but Biden and his cronies wouldn’t act quickly enough to get the job done. I did!” Trump said.

“The message to ISIS and all others who would attack Americans is that “WE WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL KILL YOU!”

Further attacks on Isis, and the Islamist paramilitary group al-Shabab, were launched in January this year.

According to think tank, New America, Trump has so far launched 135 strikes in the country in his second term, more than the entire Bush Jr, Obama and Biden presidencies combined.

Meanwhile, Somalia has become a lightning rod for MAGA Republicans, with Trump calling the country a “hell hole” and repeatedly attacking Somali immigrants in the US as “garbage who contribute nothing”, comments that have sparked widespread backlash.

The US conducted several counterterrorism operations against Isis in Iraq in March 2025. Trump praised the operation as an example of “peace through strength”.

According to the US CENTCOM, the precision airstrike killed Isis’s second-in-command, Abdallah “Abu Khadijah” Makki Muslih al-Rifai, in the Al Anbar province of Iraq.

Posting the update on X with a portrait picture of himself, Trump wrote at the time: “Today the fugitive leader of ISIS in Iraq was killed. He was relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters. His miserable life was terminated, along with another member of ISIS, in coordination with the Iraqi Government and the Kurdish Regional Government. PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH!”

The operations were a continuation of an ongoing campaign of targeting ISIS in Iraq, begun during President Barack Obama’s tenure in 2014, and dubbed Operation Inherent Resolve.

Trump launched bombings against Yemen’s Houthi rebels in March 2025 after a wave of attacks by the group against ships in the Red Sea that were in response to Israel’s war in Gaza.

The United States is reported to have carried out more than 1,100 strikes, killed hundreds of Houthi fighters, and spent more than $1 billion over the 52-day campaign, officials told the New York Times.

Despite the bombardment, rebels began attacking cargo ships in the Red Sea again in July.

The Iran-backed group captured and sank a Greek-owned bulk carrier named ‘Magic Seas’ using drones, missiles, and rocket-propelled grenades, forcing its 22 crew members to abandon ship.

The next day, the Houthis sank another Greek-operated vessel called ‘Eternity C’, leaving at least four dead and 15 missing.

In June last year, the International Atomic Energy Agency warned Iran was violating its non-proliferation commitments and had enough enriched uranium to potentially develop nine nuclear bombs.

Within days, Israel launched airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and the so-called Twelve Day War began. Iran launched a wave of missile and drone strikes in response.

On June 22, the US intervened and launched a series of bombing raids on Iran’s nuclear sites.

“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow.”

A ceasefire was agreed the next day, but tensions between the US and Iran resumed in January this year after widespread protests across the country that prompted a ruthless government crackdown, with human rights groups warning of thousands dead.

Trump, backing the anti-regime protesters, warned repeatedly he would take action against Iran if the killings continued. However, after considering multiple options to respond to the crisis including sanctions and cyber attacks, Trump has yet to launch further military strikes on Tehran.

The US began attacking alleged “narco-terrorist boats” off the Caribbean coast of Venezuela in September 2025, which later expanded to the Pacific Ocean.

The administration claimed it was taking action to stem the flow of drugs into the United States, with Trump accusing Venezuela’s then president of being a top-level member of drug cartel, “Cartel de los Soles”.

At least 123 people are reported to have been killed in the operations, which UN and legal experts criticised for being “extrajudicial killings”.

Between 10,000 and 15,000 American troops were stationed near the country as Trump reportedly gave Maduro an ultimatum to surrender.

Then, on 3 January, US special forces raided Maduro’s residence in Caracas in Operation Absolute Resolve. Maduro was removed from office and extradited to the US to appear in a New York court to face criminal charges.

Trump officials have said the US is “not at war with Venezuela” and that it is not planning any further military action, though the president also said, “we’re not afraid of boots on the ground”.

In the days after the raid, Trump announced the US would be taking over sales of Venezuelan crude oil across the globe and said the government in Caracas was providing Washington with between 30 and 50 million barrels of formerly sanctioned oil to sell.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) launched Operation Hawkeye Strike against Isis in Syria, in coordination with Jordan, on 19 December 2025. The most recent attacks took place earlier this month.

The operation was a direct response to the killing of two US soldiers and a civilian US interpreter.

Three additional US military personnel and two members of Syria’s security services were injured in the attacks. Trump blamed Isis for the attacks, but Syrian officials said the attacker was a disgruntled member of the security services facing dismissal over allegations of holding extremist views.

An unnamed US official told CNN that the January operation had launched 90 precision munitions at more than 35 targets, using over two dozen aircraft.

Earlier operations took place in November, with the US military joining the Syrian armed forces to destroy 15 Isis weapons caches in southern Syria.

On Christmas Day 2025, Trump ordered strikes against Isis targets in Nigeria after he accused the group of targeting Christians. The US military confirmed “multiple fatalities” after camps in Sokoto state near the border with Niger were hit during the strikes.

US secretary of defense Pete Hegseth said of the attacks: “The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end. The @DeptofWar is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight — on Christmas.”

He added: “Grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation. Merry Christmas!” He then warned: “More to come…” Trump said that the attacks were “powerful and deadly” and “at levels not seen for many years, even centuries!”

A defense department official told The Independent that the strikes had been carried out with the knowledge and cooperation of the Nigerian government.

Mexico has long been a target of Trump’s anger with the president blaming their government for failing to deal with drug cartels and preventing the flow of migrants across the border.

He warned the country, which has been led by left-wing president Claudia Sheinbaum since October 2024, “has to get their act together” or “we’re going to have to do something”.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio said in January that he believes Cuba is “in a lot of trouble” following the capture of Maduro, a key ally.

“I’m not going to talk to you about what our future steps are going to be and our policies are going to be right now in this regard,” Rubio told NBC. “But I don’t think it’s any mystery that we are not big fans of the Cuban regime, who, by the way, are the ones that were propping up Maduro.”

Trump also warned Colombian president Gustavo Petro – one of his fiercest critics on the international stage – that the South American country could be his next target.

“Colombia is very sick, too, run by ‍a ‌sick man, who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, ‍and he’s not going to be doing it very long,” he told reporters while on board Air Force One.

Trump has had his sights set on purchasing the semi-autonomous territory of Greenland since 2019, but has ramped up his rhetoric in recent weeks and refused to rule out military action.

The president argues it is vital to ensure the “national security” of the United States and to prevent the island falling into the hands of Russia or China.

However, his threats have sparked backlash from Nato allies and European leaders amid fears Trump could fracture the long-standing alliance and play right into Vladimir Putin’s hands.

Denmark and the US have agreed to set up a working group to discuss ways to resolve their differences, but Trump remains adamant that anything less than US control is unacceptable.

Tensions have continued to mount throughout January, with European troops from Germany, France and Sweden deployed to the region, and Trump threatening tariffs against any country that stands in his way.

In December 2024, Trump began to tease that some of his supporters had expressed support for Canada to be annexed into the United States.

He had threatened to impose tariffs on Canada unless it increased its military spending and fortified its border security.

The president ruled out the use of military force to annex Canada, but said he would use “economic force” instead, and has continued to reiterate his desire to annex Canada throughout his second term in office.

Trump has continued to make comments that the country should become the “the 51st state” of the US.

His comments have sparked a furious backlash in the country and even sparked a boycott of American products. A poll conducted by Angus Reid poll last October suggested nearly half of Canadians (46 per cent) want their government to approach the US as an “enemy or potential threat”.

Five regions left without power after Moscow launches barrage of drone strikes

Five regions of Ukraine were left without power after Russia launched a barrage of drone strikes against energy infrastructure on Monday, Ukrainian officials said as the country grapples with freezing temperatures and waning fuel reserves.

Ukrainian air defences shot down 126 of 145 drones launched nationwide, according to the Ukrainian air force. Sumy, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv were left without power as some hit their targets, the energy ministry said, assuring emergency repairs were underway where possible.

In the southern Odesa region, energy and gas infrastructure was damaged, the regional governor said, adding that one person was hurt in the attack.

Ukraine last week declared an energy emergency amid increased pressure from the heavy Russian bombardment, bitter cold temperatures and accumulated wartime damage. Vitali Kitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said the capital had only about half of the energy that it needs.

Kyiv’s lead negotiator meanwhile hoped to make progress in peace talks with the United States at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, after delegations held talks over the weekend in Florida.

Both Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky will be attending the Davos summit, which begins today, but the White House says there are currently no plans for a bilateral meeting. Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov said talks would continue “at the team level during the next phase of consultations in Davos”.

Legendary Italian fashion designer Valentino dies aged 93

Valentino Garavani, the legendary Italian fashion designer known mononymously as Valentino, has died. He was 93.

Garavani founded the luxury fashion house Valentino on Via Condotti in Rome in 1960, and it quickly became known as a leading “maison de haute couture”.

Among his early successes, Garavani designed the wedding gown worn by former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy at her marriage to business tycoon Aristotle Onassis in 1968.

His other creations included Audrey Hepburn’s white lace gown in How to Steal a Million (1966), Julia Roberts’s Y-neck halter gown, which she wore for her Best Actress Oscar win in 2001, and the pale yellow, one-shoulder silk taffeta gown Cate Blanchett wore when she won Best Supporting Actress for The Aviator in 2005.

In a statement on social media, Fondazione Valentino Garavani e Giancarlo Giammetti said: “Our founder, Valentino Garavani passed away today at his Roman residence, surrounded by his loved ones.”

Tributes to Garavani were led by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who wrote on X: “Valentino, undisputed master of style and elegance and eternal symbol of Italian high fashion. Today Italy loses a legend, but his legacy will continue to inspire generations. Thank you for everything.”

Garavani was born in Voghera, in Northern Italy, on May 11, 1932. His mother named him after the famed Italian movie star Rudolph Valentino.

He was fascinated by fashion design from a young age, and went to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts and at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. While still in Paris he apprenticed with Jacques Fath, Balenciaga and Jean Desses.

In 1959, at the age of 27, he returned to Rome where he opened his own fashion house the following year. He was known for his striking dresses, often in a bright shade that became known as “Valentino red”.

In 1964, Jacqueline Kennedy became a fan of Valentino and bought six black-and-white haute couture dresses that she wore during her high-profile year of mourning for President John F Kennedy, who had been assassinated the previous year.

Garavani’s association with Kennedy helped grow his reputation in the United States, and he spent much of the 1970s based in New York City. He became a well-known public figure, and had his portrait painted by Andy Warhol. “He was very nice all the time with me,” Garavani recalled in an interview with System Magazine. “He invited me to the Factory many times, and I was admiring all the paintings on the floor – you had to be careful not to step on them.”

In the 1980s, Garavani helped shape the fashion of the era with his broad-shouldered tailored suits. They became a favorite of the Dynasty star Joan Collins, who was often photographed wearing Valentino.

In 1990, Garavani opened the Accademia Valentino, an art gallery and cultural institution in Rome. He sold Valentino for around $300 million to an Italian conglomerate in 1998, but continued to design until he retired in January 2008. The months leading up to his retirement were captured in the 2008 documentary Valentino: The Last Emperor. He also made a cameo appearance as himself in 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada.

Garavani is survived by his partner Giancarlo Giammetti, who he met in 1960 and worked with to co-found Valentino.

Garavani’s foundation announced that he will lie in state this Wednesday and Thursday, before a funeral on Friday, January 23 at Rome’s Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri.

Why this year’s messy Traitors are the only ones I’m rooting for

January often feels about six weeks long, but it seems like just days ago that Claudia Winkleman reappeared on our screens on New Year’s Day, clad in her finest knitwear, to welcome 22 contestants to The Traitors’ Ardross Castle. And now, suddenly, the series is in its final week. With just eight contestants remaining – and the prize money well into five figures – there are only two players worth rooting for: the ones who are, and have always been, the Traitors.

It’s partially thanks to the nature of the game that the remaining Faithfuls are not the best, or most memorable, players. Don’t get me wrong, Roxy and Faraaz seem lovely, but they’re classic examples of Faithfuls who have bumbled through by never posing a real threat. Then there’s Jade, who is well deserving of a spa break after largely contributing to the game by unwillingly serving as the ideal decoy.

Meanwhile, Jack and Matthew were, until very recently, among the male players who were indistinguishable from each other, and the final Faithful left is James, whose erratic behaviour and shield-stealing antics have puzzled contestants and viewers alike.

Cast your eyes, then, to the Traitors. Under the cover of darkness, Stephen and Rachel have run a successful, if not always slick, operation. The Celtic pair vowed to stick together after fellow OG Traitor Hugo was banished, and they’ve since rolled with the many punches – the Secret Traitor reveal! Murder in plain sight! Harriet’s unravelling! – in an expert, if messy, fashion.

The Faithfuls have been more distrustful of each other than ever, and this distrust has been easily exploited by the Traitors, who have shown the utmost commitment to each other and, much to Matthew’s chagrin, turned down all chances to recruit anyone else.

It has seemed, on many occasions, that Stephen’s time in the castle was surely up. But like a cat with nine lives, the Scottish Traitor has always survived – usually thanks to someone else (ahem, Fiona and Harriet) accidentally creating the perfect distraction by causing drama or behaving suspiciously (or, as Harriet so memorably put it, setting the “CAT AMONG THE PIGEONS”).

Just as season one’s Maddy rumbled Traitor Wilf, the lovely Jessie correctly figured out Stephen’s true status early on with her “Library Five” theory, rightly suggesting that Ross was being framed for murdering Ben (remember him?).

Jessie also correctly clocked that a Traitor was most likely among the players caged after Rachel created a murder shortlist using the castle’s family tree portrait. Unfortunately, just like Maddy before her, Jessie never managed to convince enough Faithfuls of either theory. And in one of the boldest, most successful gameplays of the series so far, Stephen took matters into his own hands last week when he decided that his and Rachel’s next kill should be his flame-haired accuser.

The pair knew Jessie’s murder would leave the Faithfuls disheartened and on edge – and that it would put Stephen straight back in the spotlight. Having presumably practised his poker face in the 4×4 to the castle, Stephen expertly deployed an “I’m being framed” defence convincing enough that – to his own shock – he didn’t receive a single vote at the Round Table. At least for now, the risky play appears to have paid off, cementing Stephen as a Traitor who has proved he deserves the win.

Before callously murdering Jessie, Stephen was an easy contestant to love. With his Anneka Rice-esque jumpsuit, penchant for a high-waisted trouser, and perfectly coiffed locks, he’s the most stylish of this year’s contestants – though an honourable mention must go to the Queen of Knitwear, Jade – and has spawned many memes thanks to his most adventurous looks. His inability to pull off a neutral poker face in most scenarios is equally entertaining.

Then there’s Rachel, a 42-year-old mum-of-three who is undeniably the puppetmaster of this year’s series. With her three months of FBI training – no one can accuse her of not taking the game seriously – she has been unflappable as she picks off the Faithfuls one by one. And those who cross her don’t last long.

Early on, Rachel found a castle BFF in Amanda, who felt so confident in her Irish pal that she confided in her about her police background. When the former detective was ousted, Rachel cunningly revealed Amanda’s past to the whole group, sparking a confrontation for the ages with Fiona, who spectacularly ruined her own game by turning on her fellow Traitor.

Having seen off her Welsh rival, Rachel once again proved herself to be invincible when she came under suspicion from secret barrister Harriet, whose explosive breakfast outburst made Fiona’s attack look positively cordial. In a fit of fury at the Round Table, Harriet threw herself under the bus to prove her theory to the rest of the Faithfuls – who have since completely ignored everything she said. Oops.

A pair of Traitors have never won the British version of the show, with the final episodes of each series typically seeing any who remain forced to turn on each other. But in Stephen and Rachel, it looks as though the show has finally found a duo who take their vow seriously. And with the Faithfuls having stumbled through so badly, who can claim that this year’s Traitors don’t deserve to steal the cash? I know who I’m rooting for.

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For Putin, Trump’s second term just keeps on getting better

For Vladimir Putin, the second term of President Donald Trump just keeps getting better and better. Trump’s threats to annex Greenland signal a new political era where it’s okay for great powers to seize chunks of their neighbours’ territory. More, Trump is doing more to fracture and dismantle the unity of Nato than Putin could ever manage in his wildest geo-strategic dreams.

And the icing on the cake is that Trump seems ready to rehabilitate Putin’s standing on the world stage by inviting him – as well as Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenka – to join a “board of peace” being set up to oversee a ceasefire in Gaza. Such an appointment would be a significant step towards and smoothing over Putin’s responsibility for war crimes in Ukraine and normalising his position as a leader with whom the world can do business.

Small wonder that Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declared that Trump would “certainly go down in history” for his Greenland campaign – while at the same time coyly refusing to say “whether this is good or bad, whether it will comply with the parameters of international law or not.” Trump has begun behaving exactly as Vladimir Putin has done for years – intervening violently in the politics of his neighbours and using historical justifications for claiming territory beyond his country’s borders.

“Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway?” demanded Trump in a bizarre letter to Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre over the weekend. “There are no written documents; it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also.” Trump’s confused pseudo-history echoes Putin’s own obsession with proving that Ukraine has always been part of Russia.

From Russia’s point of view, Trump is behaving as his White House predecessors have always behaved – as an outright imperialist power, ignoring the so-called rules-based order whenever they like. In 2007, in a famous speech to the Munich Security Conference, Putin denounced the US bombing of Belgrade in 1999, the redrawing of the borders of Yugoslavia by force, and the invasion of Iraq. Putin warned against excessive military force and advocated for a multipolar order with respect for international law. “No one feels safe any more,” Putin said, charging the US with “undermining global stability”.

Soon after his Munich speech, Putin nosedived from his moral high ground with an invasion of Georgia in 2008, the annexation of Crimea in 2014, an intervention in Syria to prop up the bloody regime of Bashar al-Assad in 2015 and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Now, by decapitating the Venezuelan regime of Nicolas Maduro and insisting that Greenland will become US territory, Trump has signalled that these naked power grabs are in the US’s legitimate repertoire too.

“I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America,” wrote Trump in his letter to Støre. “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”

Putin, for his part, has maintained a stony silence on both Venezuela and Greenland. That may be because he has wisely concluded that praise from the Kremlin will hardly help Trump’s domestic popularity and condemnation could jeopardise ongoing peace talks over Ukraine. Nor is Trump unequivocally good news for the Kremlin. Venezuela’s Maduro was a key Moscow ally and a strategic foothold in South America. And many Russian securocrats remember that Trump in his first term was far tougher on Russia than Barack Obama had ever been, sanctioning the builders of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and providing deadly arms to the Ukrainians.

Far from being a Russian agent or a cipher for Putin, there have been periods of Trump’s rule where the Kremlin drew his ire too. That volatility represents a potential strategic threat to Russia, too, if Putin mishandles negotiations with the world’s touchiest and most mercurial leader.

If Trump represents an update to Richard Nixon’s Madman Theory of diplomacy, it is that this time, there is no theory, but with an actual madman. Even if, as seems likely, Trump’s Greenland obsession blows over and ends in the usual TACO – Trump Always Chickens Out – he will have done lasting damage to the Western alliance. And that, in the long term, is good news for Putin. For the whole of the Cold War and the quarter century of Putin’s rule, no Nato member ever questioned the fundamental principle that the alliance was grounded first and foremost on an American commitment to defend Europe. Until now.

In his first term, Trump was vocal about European free-riders who failed to spend the requisite two per cent of their GDP on defence spending. This time around, Trump has been much more explicitly transactional about US security obligations to the Europeans. ”I have done more for Nato than any other person since its founding, and now, Nato should do something for the United States,” railed Trump in his letter to the Norwegians.

Over the weekend, Trump doubled down by ordering punitive tariffs against Britain and seven other European allies who had dared insist that Greenland’s future was a matter for the Kingdom of Denmark and the island’s inhabitants themselves. In retaliation, and for the first time in history, the EU is preparing to invoke an “anti-coercion instrument” to impose €93bn (£80.6bn) of tariffs on US imports to the EU.

Splitting Nato unity is exactly what Putin has always tried to do, whether by overtly providing cheap gas to Germany, Hungary and Slovakia or covertly funding European right-wing political movements – such as a 2014 soft loan to Marine Le Pen’s Front National that was finally repaid only in 2023. For the most part, Putin failed in his aim – indeed, when he attempted to seize Kyiv in February 2022, he was reportedly shocked at the unity and vehemence of Nato’s resistance. Rather than destroy the Western alliance, Putin’s invasion strengthened it to unprecedented levels and reminded Europeans and Americans alike why they needed a transatlantic security alliance in the first place.

Now, for the first time since its foundation 80 years ago, Nato is on the verge of an internal trade war over territory. That can only be good news for Putin.

Starmer to consider all options on social media ban for under-16s

Sir Keir Starmer is set to announce plans for a consultation on social media restrictions for under-16s amid growing calls for an Australian-style ban.

Ministers are expected to make an announcement shortly, The Independent understands, after dozens of Labour MPs signed an open letter urging the prime minister to back a ban.

The consultation, which was first reported by The Times, is expected to look at all options for reform, including a blanket ban or limits on app time.

It comes after the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey sent a letter to the prime minister, urging him to back an amendment to stop children under 16 from using social media platforms.

In a joint letter from the Bereaved Families for Online Safety on Monday, Esther Ghey described how her daughter had a social media addiction and was “exacerbated by the harmful content she was consuming online”.

“I speak not only as Brianna’s mother, but alongside many other bereaved parents who have lost their children to harms that began or were amplified online,” the letter, signed by a number of bereaved parents, reads.

“Some have lost children after they were groomed by online predators, others through dangerous online challenges, and others following prolonged exposure to self-harm and suicide content.”

It adds: “The online world our children are living in, and the harms that come with it, are vast. We need a multi-pronged approach to address this crisis properly, one that includes legislation, regulation, education, and societal change.”

On Monday, Sir Keir said that “no options are off the table” when it comes to changes to the use of social media for children.

“We are obviously looking at what’s happened in Australia, something I’ve discussed with the Australian prime minister,” he added.

“I don’t think it’s just a question of social media and children under 16. I think we have got to look at a range of measures.”

The expected announcement comes ahead of a vote in the Lords this week on an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which would require social media platforms to stop children under 16 from using their platforms within a year of the bill passing.

It comes as more than 60 Labour MPs sign an open letter urging the prime minister to back a ban for under-16s.

The letter calls on the government to take action to “protect young people from the consequences of unregulated, addictive social media platforms”.

“Across our constituencies, we hear the same message: children are anxious, unhappy and unable to focus on learning,” it reads. “They are not building the social skills needed to thrive, nor having the experience that will prepare them for adulthood.”

The letter, signed by dozens of backbenchers as well as education select committee chair Helen Hayes, former whip Vicky Foxcroft, and former education minister Catherine McKinnell, says Britain risks being “left behind” if it does not act.

The UK’s largest teaching union has also said the prime minister should fully support an amendment for an outright ban.

National Education Union (NEU) general secretary Daniel Kebede said No 10 signalling it is open to raising the age limit for social media “was a welcome shift”.

Mr Kebede said: “The additional pressure from Labour backbench MPs needs to move Keir Starmer to full support of this amendment to ban social media for under-16s. This cannot be a moment for passivity – it demands leadership.

“Every day, parents and teachers see how social media shapes children’s identities and attention long before they sit their GCSEs, pulling them into isolating, endless loops of content.”

However, at the weekend, 42 child protection charities and online safety groups issued a joint statement warning a blanket social media ban would not deliver the improvement in child safety and wellbeing needed, and would treat “the symptoms, not the problem”.

Instead, the government should strengthen the Online Safety Act to require platforms to robustly enforce risk-based age limits, the organisations said.