Starmer fancies himself a leader among leaders – but his tough talk on defence is just expensive bluster | Simon Jenkins

<p>With the world in crisis, the PM is spending billions to back his posturing. But he has no clout over Gaza or Ukraine, and it’s time he acted accordingly</p><ul><li><p>Sign up for our new weekly newsletter <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global/2025/jun/26/sign-up-to-matters-of-opinion-a-weekly-discussion-from-our-columnists-and-writers">Matters of Opinion</a>, where our columnists and writers will reflect on what they’ve been debating, thinking about, reading and more</p></li></ul><p>Each night we wonder where we are. We sit in comfort watching death and destruction fall on thousands in Gaza and Ukraine. Each night we see buildings exploding, people screaming and children starving. Statesmen stand around and deplore. There is anxious talk of what next –<strong> </strong>another 9/11 perhaps, or a Cuba 1962? Or is it, as some say, a 1939 or 1914 moment? As for the one man with notional power over the world, Donald Trump, his pledge of an end to wars has proved futile – and a bonanza for defence industries everywhere.</p><p>Whenever someone cries that something must be done, I always ask by whom? Day after day, Britain’s Keir Starmer – when he isn’t <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/sep/11/keir-starmer-sacks-peter-mandelson-over-jeffrey-epstein-revelations">battling domestic crises</a> and scandals –<strong> </strong>rises in the Commons to announce that he is working towards a ceasefire. But he is not. He is talking about working. If Trump cannot stop the killing – and he patently cannot – how can Starmer possibly do so? He has taken eagerly to the rhetoric of statesmanship. A lingering legacy of empire is that Britons expect of their rulers a running commentary on world affairs, as in the prime minister yesterday <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-condemns-shooting-charlie-kirk-utah-donald-tr