Latika M Bourke

latika.me🇵🇱 From Warsaw, Latika Takes interviews Hanno PevkurListen now (32 mins) | Estonia’s former defence minister discusses NATO, US commitment and how to end the war in Ukraine

🎙️ My podcast guest this week is Hanno Pevkur, Estonia's fmr Defence Minister. We discuss NATO, how to address Russia's attacks on Europe and the West, Estonia's deep-strike capabilities and whether Europe can end the war in Ukraine. latika.me/Pevkur

latika.meWhat I'm ReadingOctober 16: Five reads that piqued my interest this week

📚 Read We Are Bellingcat by @eliothiggins.bsky.social. So much foresight in retrospect. 📡 Who slowed Starlink? Reuters says it was the White House, Tel = Elon Musk. 🇮🇳 In India, the cockroaches are being detained 🇦🇱 And Albanian dissident Fatos Lubonja on the Flamingo Revolution latika.me/4yTUAL8

latika.meFarage meets his matchThe UK’s new PM Andy Burnham unveiled a populist agenda

Daring, bold and courageous, Andy Burnham turned his back on the years of incrementalism and will earn him the public's ear as a result. Whether he can win all these fights is the question, but unlike Starmer, he won't die wondering. latika.me/BurnhamConfS...

latika.meUkraine is in a precarious positionA despatch from the Yalta European Strategy (YES) Conference in Kyiv

18 Sept

I've been in Kyiv for my fifth visit. I came away more worried about Ukraine than I've ever been. Here's why: latika.me/UkraineTimeT...

latika.me🇺🇦 From Kyiv, Latika Takes interviews ‘Achilles’One of Ukraine’s most decorated Commanders discusses the war in Ukraine

13 Sept

🎙️🇺🇦 From Kyiv, Don't miss my interview with Achilles. Yuri is one of Ukraine's most decorated Commanders and leads one of Ukraine's most successful drone brigades. I spoke to Achilles and his wife Maria about the war, fighting with drones and starting a family while fighting for your survival.

latika.meWe’re failing to deter Russia’s sabotage: Germany’s military chiefCarsten Breuer said Russia could exploit Trump’s attempt to rebalance NATO before Europe was ready

2 Sept

'We are deterring on the conventional side,’ he continued. ‘We are not deterring — not deterring enough — in this sphere of hybrid attacks.'

Latika M Bourke reposted

Charles McPhedran

@charliekreuz.bsky.social

25 Aug

100 percent agree with @latikambourke.com on X on Australia’s need to boost its Russia expertise. Her “Nightly” article concentrates on the unis; many have stopped Russian courses. But the same is true of the media—despite interest, zero dedicated corris are dedicated to Russia and Eastern Europe…

25 Aug

🇳🇴 Great to be back in the moderator's chair at the ONS Conference underway in Stavanger, Norway.

14 Aug

Nigel Farage refuses to show at the count in the Clacton byelection where his main opponent is the comedian posing as Count Binface. “I’m damned if I’m going to stand on stage and be demeaned and humiliated by the nobodies,” he told Reform supporters.

9 Aug

Sam Ryder as Jesus? I had some views latika.me/WIR7826

labourlist.orgLabour membership drops by more than a fifth in 2025 - LabourListThe Labour Party lost more than a fifth of its members in 2025, figures published by the Electoral Commission reveal.

7 Aug

UK Labour haemorrhages a fifth of its membership. labourlist.org/2026/08/labo...

latika.meWhat I'm ReadingJuly 31: Five reads that piqued my interest this week

2 Aug

Reviewed Regime Change latika.me/WIR310726

latika.meThe US risks losing trust of allies over tariff hit‘The tool of tariffs has to be put back in the shed and constrained to be used only in moments that actually serve our national security industries,’ the Senator urged.

29 July

"I don’t believe most of our allies will trust us again in the same way and we need to recognise that that means legislative changes constraining presidential power to act in ways that are corrupt, in ways that are precipitous." latika.me/CoonsTariffs

latika.meFarage attacks 'chameleon' BurnhamAs the new Labour leader said he would not try to out-Reform Reform

17 July

New piece just posted. I've written about CPAC-GB, Farage's Day Two speech and the dangers of all the political projection and pick-and-mix politics going on around the vibey Andy Burnham. latika.me/ChameleonBur...

17 July

Day Two of Liz Truss's CPAC-GB. In a contest with yesterday seems to be even fewer in attendance today. I wrote about Day One in @thenightlyau here: latika.me/CPACGB

16 July

Sea of empty chairs for one of Britain's former Prime Ministers.

Latika M Bourke@latikambourke.com

Liz Truss's CPAC-GB has kicked off. It's not exactly standing room only. Also, you have to buy your own coffee, at a conference - Quelle Horreur!!!

16 July

Liz Truss's CPAC-GB has kicked off. It's not exactly standing room only. Also, you have to buy your own coffee, at a conference - Quelle Horreur!!!

BREAKING NO NATO SUMMIT SCHEDULED FOR 2027. Communique says NATO looks forward to it's next meeting. That was due in Albania next year per the Hague decision last year. But asked at his presser, Rutte says Albania will be next host but says date still be to be set.

nato.intThe Ankara Summit DeclarationThe Ankara Summit Declaration

No mention of China in the (very short) NATO communique. www.nato.int/en/about-us/...

latika.meChina fires a nuclear-capable ballistic missile, NATO takes noteAustralia personally thanked Mark Rutte for drawing attention to the Pacific

China's response to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte's comments to me about the nuclear-capable missile that they tested in the Pacific this week is simultaneously hilarious and revealing. latika.me/NATOTakesNote

latika.meConroy warns of ‘catastrophic’ conflict after missile testsChief reassures Pacific countries that NATO is ‘on it’ after long-range missile test sparked fury, as Australia intensifies its rhetoric on China to a level not seen since the COVID fallout.

Australia's Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy tells NATO counterparts that conflict with China would be 'catastrophic' but tells me that Labor has NOT toughened its tone on the PRC following Monday's test of a nuclear-capable missile in the Pacific. latika.me/ChinaCatastr...

7 July

Reform source: "I think he’s staying." Let's see.

6 July

Oh Marco. (Mind you he is dead right that this whole scandal could overshadow NATO underway here in Ankara tomorrow, not an entirely bad thing for Europe...)

6 July

To paraphrase Eminem: Will the real Labor feminists please stand up? latika.me/GrossAlboSay...

3 July

Was great to interview Sam Stosur about her mentorship of Maya Joint who sensationally beat Serena Williams at Wimbledon this week. 🏓 Read: thenightly.com.au/sport/huge-m...

latika.meThe UK's defence investment plan & AUKUSLabour falls well short of headline spending demands

1 July

I’ve put together what the Defence Investment Plan means for AUKUS. Curious to note the UK’s stated intention to maintain a military presence in the Indo-Pacific. The document cites China’s nuclear expansion, Russia’s aggression and North Korea’s nuclear program. latika.me/DIPAUKUS

30 June

Citing China having 15 global cities, Labour Deputy Leader Lucy Powell says the UK needs more than one in London. Noble goal. Still not sure why it's Manchester over Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Newcastle et al v the city where the ascendant soft left Labour faction resides. #NSPoliticsLive

30 June

Lucy Powell says Number 10 North is 'not a branch office' but will be a 'big arm of government' that will take huge chunks of power from Whitehall.

30 June

🇬🇧 Deputy Labour Leader Lucy Powell at #NSPoliticsLive is asked how Andy Burnham will repair the relationship with the Parliamentary Labour Party from Manchester. 'There's a lot of PLP in north-west. I'm from Manchester too.' She goes on to say it's about a cultural change.

Good start from Burnham. Very security-lite though.

Andy Burnham giving a speech in Manchester: "Are you ready for this."

Burnham flags public intervention where necessary. 'This is Manchesterism'

Burnham says he will locate his PM's office in Manchester. WOW

Andy Burnham giving a speech in Manchester: "Are you ready for this."

Burnham: 'We are one of the most over-centralised countries in the world.' 'I'll be honest, I was worried about what I found on my return. It is a more fragmented, disjoined place than the one I left, and frankly, I will work hard to change that culture.'

Burnham says he will not use the whipping system to rule by fear, will be inclusive, reach out to oppn parties, will let MPs be their authentic selves. But says 'the political direction I set up is not for negotiation.'

Andy Burnham giving a speech in Manchester: "Are you ready for this."

Burnham: 'I know it can be done, because we have done it here (Manchester).'

Burnham: 'But let's not kid ourselves, this is not as easy as it sounds. Westminster and Whitehall are set up for conflict. And they require radical change if the country is to get back on track.' He says power must be devolved.

Andy Burnham giving a speech in Manchester: "Are you ready for this."

Burnham: 'After 10 years of political turbulence since Brexit, and 20 years of falling living standards ... Westminster hasn't been working for people and it hasn't been working for a very long time. In fact, it is broken.'

Burnham: 'We cannot go through another decade like the one we have just had. We need to change politics and we need to do it now. I am going to do things differently. I am going to break with the more of the same approach. I am going to give Britain the circuit breaker it needs.'

Andy Burnham giving a speech in Manchester: "Are you ready for this."

Burnham: 'The time has come to build the broadest possible coalition of people to lift Britain to where we all want it to be. What hope can we have that it will be different this time? That's the question I would be asking if I was a voter right now.'

newstatesman.comThe northern conquestAndy Burnham’s march on No 10 was swift, ruthless and meticulously planned. Now comes the hard part

28 June

'Paparazzi gathered round the taxi carrying the next prime minister and were astonished when a totally random man got out. Wrong car. The man himself arrived minutes later.' Wonderful from @pronouncedalva.bsky.social on Burnham's conquest www.newstatesman.com/politics/wes...

latika.meWhat I'm ReadingJune 26: Five reads that piqued my interest this week

28 June

A great reading list this week latika.me/WIRJune26

23 June

Have been banging on since day dot that Labour's small-target strategy would be its undoing. Will Burham overcome it? latika.me/Carousel

latika.meIn just two short years, Keir Starmer bows to the inevitableLATIKA M BOURKE: While the UK PM used his exit speech to list his achievements in office, it was many of those same issues, such as migration and military spending, that sparked his crashing poll figu...

22 June

Starmer's so-called achievements only set out Burnham's herculean task latika.me/KeirOut

21 June

Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese and Christopher Luxon will NOT go to NATO this year. Is the IP4 losing altitude? latika.me/NoNATOAlbo

latika.me‘King of the North’s’ by-election win puts Starmer on noticeThe so-called ‘King of the North’ has defeated the Reform candidate in a by-election which was was put to voters as a chance to elect a replacement for Starmer.

19 June

Andy Burnham didn't just pass the only electoral test that matters in British politics; he slayed. ⚔️ latika.me/Burnham

latika.meLatika Takes interviews Ben JudahListen now | David Lammy's former advisor discusses the UK's foreign policy

14 June

🎙️ A wonderfully rich conversation with Ben Judah. We discuss China, US, Europe and his failed attempt to kickstart CANZUK. + sagging national security debate, why the government isn't raising defence spending, the viability of AUKUS and an opening NATO deterrence gap. 🎧 latika.me/BenJudah

latika.meWhat I'm ReadingJune 12: Five reads that piqued my interest this week

13 June

Greatly enjoyed @tomwatsonofficial.bsky.social's analysis on John Healey's resignation and what it means for the shadow leadership campaign. latika.me/WIRJune12

latika.meUK Defence Secretary resignation leaves Marles in the coldLATIKA M BOURKE: The resignation makes a mockery of Richard Marles’ nothing-to-see-here feast of words whenever he is asked about the the UK’s ability to deliver AUKUS boats.

12 June

It's terrible for AUKUS. latika.me/JiltedMarles