Send in the Marines. That seemed to be the message Downing Street wanted the country to see over the weekend.

Listen to this article

Not another line about defence spending or about defence ministers fleeing the government. Not another carefully worded statement about standing shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine. Not another promise that Britain will “go after” Russia’s shadow fleet at some undefined point in the future.

This time, there were helicopters. Warships. Royal Marines fast-roping on to a sanctioned tanker in the Channel. A Russian shadow fleet vessel being boarded in the early hours of the morning.

And, thankfully for a Prime Minister under serious pressure over defence, a full Royal Navy combat camera team just happened to be there to capture the action. And luckily they got on the ship before the Royal Marines stormed it so they could capture all the action, for Keir Starmer to then post on his TikTok.

The footage is slick. It is dramatic. It is exactly the sort of thing No 10 wants people to see at a moment when Starmer is being accused of not taking defence seriously enough.

Here is Britain acting. Here is Britain leading. Here is Britain, finally, putting hands on one of the ships helping fund Vladimir Putin’s war machine.

And to be clear, the Royal Marines involved deserve every bit of praise they are getting. These are hard, dangerous operations. Boarding a large vessel at sea, in darkness, with law enforcement officers alongside you, is not theatre for the people doing it. It requires nerve, skill and professionalism.

The problem is not the Marines. The problem is the politics wrapped around them. Because........

© LBC