Britain's £6bn Paper Tigers: How HMS Prince of Wales Exposed the Royal Navy's Carrier Crisis

Editor's note: Watch this video by Dr. Mark Felton, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, the well-known British historian and author of 22 non-fiction books including bestsellers Zero Night and Castle of the Eagles (both in Hollywood development), as he details how Britain's two enormous aircraft carriers cannot be properly protected, crewed or supplied with the aircraft they were designed for, and how the recent Arctic deployment of HMS Prince of Wales in Operation Firecrest to "intimidate" the Russians proved a complete farce that should have been called Operation Paper Tiger, exposing the story of these ruinously expensive white elephants. Does anyone seriously think Britain can challenge Russia's domination of the Arctic with the world's largest and most technologically advanced icebreaking fleet?

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Britain – the End of an Empire?

August 16, 2026 | By Martin Armstrong

Andy Burnham has not maintained Keir Starmer's migrant policy in full. Instead, he has broken with his predecessor by canceling a key Starmer policy and is publicly advocating for a different approach. Burham aims for "fundamental changes" and has focused on tougher border controls while increasing support for genuine asylum seekers. The migrants in the UK receive a specific form of government support for basic living costs:, which amounts to £45 per week per person for food, clothing, and toiletries. This is often loaded onto a special debit card.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham is now considering spreading the migrats all over "all parts of the country need to play their part." That means he now expects middle-class families to accept large numbers of asylum seekers so the poorest areas are no longer the only ones carrying the load.

This approach obviously does nothing to stop the root of the problem, the sheer number of migrants washing up in boats. It simply advertises better accommodation to the next wave of illegal arrivals.

In essence, Burnham's plan is about a government-led, large-scale rehousing program using dedicated sites and public management of housing stock, not a request for middle-class families to act as hosts in their own homes.

Andy Burnham named former Defense Secretary John Healey, 66, served as a junior Treasury minister between 2002 and 2007, to be his Chancellor of the Exchequer in a surprise move by the UK's new prime minister that fueled speculation about a bigger increase in military spending. Healey is a serious Neocon.

While his appointment to the second most important post in government upended expectations in Westminster. Little is known about his position on economic issues, beyond a general assessment that he represents a safe pair of hands and has advocated for more money to fund defense.

Burnham told NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte that Healey's appointment was a "signal of his intent" on defense, according to a readout from his office. Healey told reporters that Burnham's government "will meet our commitments on defense to our international allies."

There does not appear to be any shift in policy with regard to geopolitics and pressing war with Russia. Our forecasts for the next two remains remain unchanged and it does not look very good for the UK with Burnham.