Britain Contributes One Mine-Hunting Drone and a Stern Post-It Note to the Strait of Hormuz Crisis
Britain Contributes One Mine-Hunting Drone and a Stern Post-It Note to the Strait of Hormuz Crisis
My dad has written strongly worded letters to the council for thirty years. Potholes. Bin collections. The speed bump outside number forty-two that caused him to spill a full Costa on his lap in 2019. He documents everything. He carbon copies everyone. He has never, to my knowledge, received a single response that wasn’t a form letter. But he keeps writing. “It’s the principle,” he says. “They need to know someone’s paying attention.”
Keir Starmer, I think, would get on very well with my dad.
Britain’s Defence Contribution: Principled, Worded, Largely Ignored
The London Prat’s defence correspondent – reportedly hiding under a desk in Whitehall – confirms that as the United States asked its allies for support near the Strait of Hormuz, Britain’s offer was as follows: one mine-hunting drone (described as “capable and committed”), a strongly worded letter (“in the strongest possible terms”), and the full moral weight of a nation that once had an empire and would very much like credit for no longer having one.
The Drone: Britain’s Most Confident Military Asset
Defence insiders describe the mine-hunting drone as “our best drone” in the same tone one uses to describe the only umbrella in the house. It is capable. It is ready. There is, apparently, only one of them. The Americans reportedly said “thank you” in the way you thank someone for bringing a coleslaw to a barbecue.
NewsThump’s Whitehall sources add that a second strongly worded letter is being drafted “as a show of escalatory force,” and that Britain has also offered to host a meeting, which is different from solving anything but does demonstrate hospitality.
The Diplomatic Tradition of Attending Without Committing
Britain has a proud tradition of turning up to geopolitical crises with good intentions, a smaller budget than everyone else, and an expression that suggests we’d be doing more if circumstances permitted. We attended the Paris climate talks. We attended the Ukraine summits. We attended the G7 and brought biscuits. The strongly worded letter is merely the written extension of this tradition.
My dad, for what it’s worth, finally got his speed bump removed in 2023. It only took twenty-two letters and a change of local councillor. “Persistence,” he said. “That’s how you get things done.” Keir, take note.
SOURCE: https://prat.uk/keir-starmer-offers-to-send-a-strongly-worded-letter/