West must ensure Ukraine does not lose the war, says Duncan Smith

The West must ensure Ukraine does not lose the war, Conservative former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has said.

In a speech on the threats posed to the free world by dictatorial regimes, including China and Russia, hosted by the Heritage Foundation, senior Conservative MP Sir Iain argued that since the ending of the Cold War, there has been “every reason to doubt the West’s resolve”.

The MP for Chingford and Woodford Green told the American-based conservative think tank that for too long, liberal democracies deluded themselves that as countries like Russia and China embraced market economics, so they would come to share the values of freedom and democracy at the heart of the West.

Sir Iain listed a string of misjudgments he said had been made by western governments in recent times, such as David Cameron’s Golden Decade aimed at strengthening ties with China, which he instead described as “project kowtow”; Angela Merkel’s pipeline making Europe dependent on Russian gas; the failure to respond to the Salisbury poisonings with severe sanctions; the reaction to the Russian invasion of Georgia; and the blind eye turned to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s complicity in the brutal crushing of Syrian dissent.

He said: “All of us, but particularly European countries, were incredibly quick to take what they called ‘the peace dividend’ and the assumption that there could be no more European conflict was held as an inalienable truth.

“The problem is that we have wanted to engage with dictatorial and despotic regimes on the basis that somehow opening up the free market would lead inevitably to the growth of internal freedoms.”

Sir Iain noted “it wasn’t always like this”, adding: “How different things were in the early ’80s, when the Soviet Union confronted Nato by placing SS20 theatre nuclear missiles in Eastern Europe.

“Then, three strong leaders stepped up and acted. Reagan and Thatcher together, and Helmut Kohl, deployed Cruise and Pershing against enormous public discontent. This action drove the Soviet Union back to the negotiation table eventually leading to the withdrawal of all theatre nuclear weapons.

“There was no doubting the West’s resolve. However, since the ending of the Cold War, there has been every reason to doubt the West’s resolve.”

On the conflict in Ukraine, Sir Iain insisted that “whatever else happens, Ukraine must not now be left in the position where they are perceived to have lost the war”.

He went on: “They must win and we must help them do it. What defines winning the war is much more difficult but they mustn’t now lose.

“Sadly, I suspect as Putin heads east it will become a protracted process, a war of attrition. But we must stay the course.”

On China, Sir Iain warned Beijing “has us on the end of an economic string”.

He said: “The point is, we did that – the West. We have ensured that one of the world’s most despotic regimes is about to become the wealthiest.”

The senior Tory concluded: “The assault on freedom doesn’t begin and end with Russia’s attack on Ukraine. From China, through Iran to North Korea and beyond, the axis of totalitarianism is alive and well.

“We must spend more on defence.”