“It is time to devote myself to the aspects of life that I have neglected and to explore new possibilities”: he banished the… Are you already a subscriber to the personal sphere? Login here!
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“The time has come to devote myself to the aspects of life that I have neglected and to explore new possibilities”: Ben Wallace referred the reasons for his – announced – retirement into the personal sphere. At 53, he leaves the British Ministry of Defense, which he held for four years: a record for longevity in that office, surpassed only by Winston Churchill.
As one of Ukraine’s most ardent supporters, Wallace, a former military man, immediately received greetings from Moscow: “We say goodbye to the man who was responsible for contaminating Ukrainian territories with radiation by supplying depleted uranium missiles to the Kiev regime. “Agent 006 leaves the battlefield without honor,” wrote Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Telegram.
The motives
Instead, Ukrainian defense colleague Oleksii Reznikov on X (formerly Twitter) hailed a minister who had “set an example” by supporting Kiev. In his resignation letter to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Wallace only wanted to give a hint for the future: “The world is becoming more unstable, it is time to invest in defense.” The ministry passes into the hands of Grant Shapps and leaves the energy security portfolio : not a specialist in military issues, but an experienced personality and very close to the Prime Minister, who has refrained from a major reshuffle – probably postponed until the autumn.
Immediately after his appointment to the Ministry of Defense, Shapps (who was not among the expected names for the post) paid homage to his predecessor and, above all, guaranteed London’s commitment alongside Kiev to support the fight “of the Ukrainians against the barbaric invasion” of Russia Labor leader Keir Starmer paid tribute to the outgoing Wallace but reserved criticism for his successor, particularly over his leadership of the Department of Transport during the Johnson government and the management’s alleged “backwardness” on “green” issues during his months as owner from Energy , although there is no shortage of doubts about Shapps’ lack of defense and intelligence experience. Wallace had announced his intention to leave the government since the start of the summer. Wallace was a popular figure – a rarity for the Tories at that time – and has been repeatedly considered by observers as a potential tenant of Downing Street. The idea of leaving politics probably arose after he failed to win the post of Secretary General of NATO due to a lack of US approval, which led to the re-confirmation of Jens Stoltenberg. Wallace has ensured that he will not stand again in the next British general election, which is scheduled for the end of 2024, subject to advances.
The replacement
Before the outbreak of war in Ukraine – a dossier in which he was a hard-line advocate against Moscow from the start – Wallace had to oversee the difficult withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan in 2021. He had also been one of the architects of the AUKUS military alliance with the US and Australia in the Asia-Pacific region: an alliance that had greatly angered France, which was excluded from the pact. As a discreet man, as a former soldier used to moderating his tone and his words, he stood out last July at the NATO summit in Vilnius with an unusual swipe at Zelensky, who had publicly complained about not being invited: “ “Ukrainians should think about it.” Say “thank you” to your allies and avoid considering countries like the UK as an Amazon platform for ordering weapons.”
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