A Lord has been slapped down this afternoon by a government minister after he suggested that Britain no longer has a “god-given right to rule the waves”, “despite what we hear on the Last Night of The Proms”. The downbeat, anti-patriotic remarks came from the crossbencher Lord Singh of Wimbledon. Defence minister Baroness Goldie was having none of it, telling the Lords that “this Government has got is a fundamental democratic responsibility to keep this nation secure and safe“:

“I have to say to (Lord Singh), with the greatest of respect, it is very difficult to do that with an inadequate defence capability and we have seen over decades what happens when our defence capability frankly drops below what is needed.”

She stopped short of saying her noble friend was talking a load of old ship…