Donald Trump’s war looks like blowing up in his face. He has an impossible choice. Pull out and claim a victory he hasn’t actually won, or put US boots on the ground and risk carnage. Unless the brutal regime in Tehran suddenly collapses, the West faces a nightmare. The Ayatollahs, or whoever is in charge today, have discovered a weapon as powerful as any nuclear bomb. By blocking the Strait of Hormuz, they can bring the global economy to its knees. And that’s exactly what they’re doing. Britain is about to pay the price as oil and gas soar. So what is Keir Starmer doing?

Weirdly, the PM has a spring in his step. He thinks the war is working out quite nicely for him. His decision to stay out is popular. Not that we’d be of much use. This once great naval power can barely muster a frigate to protect its own bases. Starmer keeps saying this isn’t our war, a line parroted by Rachel Reeves. But war is coming to us. If the Tehran regime survives, it’s a direct blow to our national security, emboldening China and Russia. And things will get even scarier if Trump follows through on threats to abandon Nato.

In that scenario, Europe will have to defend Ukraine without US help. Poland, Germany, the Baltics and Scandinavia have woken up. They’re rearming at speed. So what are we doing?

Reeves is blocking plans to increase defence spending to a pathetic 2.5% of GDP, when we clearly need to spend an awful lot more than that. Incredibly, 11 Nato countries spend more than us. So where’s the money going? Last year, the Treasury took £331billion in income tax from us. Reeves spent £333billion on welfare. That’s more than she raised.

That’s only one tax of course. There are plenty more, such as National Insurance, VAT and corporation tax. But spending more on those who don’t work than we raise from the incomes of those who do simply isn’t sustainable. In fact, it’s unthinkable.

And it’s getting worse. Every week, another 1,000 are declared too sick to work, with long-term sickness now at a record 2.8million. A staggering nine million working age adults are economically inactive. Health, disability and incapacity benefits are the fastest-growing area of spending. Five years ago, they totalled £24billion. By the end of the decade, the bill is forecast to hit £100billion. When Reeves tried to save just £5billion in her maiden Budget, Labour MPs rebelled. Cue another screeching Starmer U-turn.

Pensioner benefits remain the largest share at around £180billion, but that money goes to those who have paid in.

We’re storing up an even bigger problem for the future. The number of children declared disabled has doubled in a decade to 1.7million, lining them up for a lifetime on benefits. But while Reeves refuses to spend more on defence, she’s locking in inflation-busting welfare increases.

Universal Credit will rise by a stunning 6.2% this year and will continue to outpace it for the next three years. The two-child benefits cap is gone. All this as the world blunders closer to World War III, and our military becomes a laughing stock.

Reeves’ tax hikes have also choked growth and driven up the unemployment rate from 4.2% to 5.2%, shrinking tax revenues and further swelling the benefits bill.

If Starmer thinks the “rules-based international order” will save us, he’s even more out of touch than he looks. Iran, China, Russia, North Korea and let’s admit it, the US, no longer play by the rules. Today, might is right. And Britain is a puny seven-stone weakling.

We’re in a global arms race, and blowing the money on sickness bills. This priority cannot be defended. And unless we beef up our military, nor can Britain.