We are getting to the situation where, from initial pessimism about the capability and endurance of Ukraine, we see a growing belief that it can win this war. That view is incautious. For sure, Ukraine can beat off the attackers, but when it comes to recovering ground, they face exactly the same problems confronting the Russians.

Thus, we’re in it for the long haul, which presents a different and stressful dynamic on western nations, including the EU. Until this war is resolved, normal politics and economics will not be resumed. This is driving foreign, defence and economic policy, which cannot revert to normal as long as we are, in effect, in an undeclared war with Russia. The shadow of Ukraine hangs over the nation and affects every aspect of policy and the way we live.

The media is now bored of the Ukraine war and has compartmentalised it as a running concern but the headlines in the coming weeks and months will very much be symptoms of that conflict be it food or energy poverty. There is no solution to the cost of living crisis without an end to fighting in Ukraine. The worst of it is that we are not in control. Effectively, Zelensky and Putin are driving our politics. We’re just the spectators.

That has the Tories worried. There are things they could do to bring down living costs such as axing green taxes on energy and slashing fuel duty, but the ideological bent of the Westminster bubble forbids it. It may happen, but only after all other options have been exhausted. Consequently, we’re in for a decade of crippling energy costs and the ill health and poverty that goes with it.

In the background, though, the wheels are quietly falling off the Net Zero bandwagon. Capital costs increases, shortages and supply chain disruptions will stall the rollout of EVs, and we can expect the government to quietly drop its ban on the sale of ICE vehicles. The rest of the world is ramping up its use of coal and soon even Boris will notice that Britain is alone in its desire to commit economic suicide. The wind industry will also hit the buffers as older wind farms reach decommissioning age and new developments face long delays for connection to the grid. This parasitic industry will go on stealing our wealth but its days are numbered. Too bad we have to reach an energy emergency before Kwasi Kwarteng wakes up.

Of equal concern is the emerging food crisis that goes hand in hand with war and an energy crunch. You would think the Tories would take this opportunity to rethink and revitalise British agriculture, capitalising on Brexit, instead of paving over the countryside with solar panels to meet arbitrary climate targets, But again, they’ll let the poor starve before they reconsider subsidies to developers and Tory donors.

We also note that if the Ukraine conflict causes wider global food shortages, then we can also expect to see yet another wave of economic migrants when the Johnson administration doesn’t have a handle on present levels of illegal immigration.

On Thursday the Home Office took to Twitter to inform us that “we removed 23 dangerous foreign criminals on charter flights with combined sentences of over 46 years. We also removed 3 individuals who had entered the UK illegally. We are committed to ending the abuse of our asylum system and removing those with no right to be here”. That’s three – of over one million illegal immigrants in the UK. Elsewhere we learn that just fifty migrants have been told they be to Rwanda as part of the government’s resettlement policy. More than 8,000 people have made the crossing so far this year – and summer isn’t here yet.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Boris Johnson revealed the figure, saying he expected a lot of legal opposition but insisted the government would “dig in”. Mr Johnson told the Mail: “There’s going to be a lot of legal opposition from the types of firms that for a long time have been taking taxpayers’ money to mount these sort of cases, and to thwart the will of the people, the will of Parliament. We’re ready for that. “We will dig in for the fight and we will make it work,” he added. “We’ve got a huge flowchart of things we have to do to deal with it, with the leftie lawyers.”

Does Boris realise he is the prime minster and has an eighty seat majority sitting idle? He could end taxpayer funding of the NGOcracy this week if he wanted to. He could withdraw from the Refugee Convention and scrap the Human Rights Act. With his majority, and our departure from the EU it has never been easier for a PM to pass legislation to kill off legal activism. As ever, the man takes us for fools. The Tories are asleep at the wheel.

We have already seen that the Tories have abandoned Brexit, having no idea what to usefully do with it, and Johnson’s legacy is increasing summarised as “Fat Blair”. A slovenly, disjointed and incompetent administration that squandered the biggest electoral opportunity of all time. One that sat on its hands and watched inflation ravage the economy and erode the wealth of Britons while fire-hosing Ukraine with taxpayer’s cash to pursue a vanity proxy war. One that needs to end now.

We’ve long since given up any hope that this government will do anything useful with its time in office, and it seems the most we can hope is that it might stop making everything worse, but even that seems to be asking too much of the Tories. We are left to wonder just how much more of a battering the UK can take before we start to see deadly serious consequences.