If the Russian bear growls, should we in the West be concerned?

I think we should, and this latest, state-sponsored murder attempt in Salisbury shows the utter contempt Putin has for the rule of law and democracy. He’s a ruthless thug, using his military with impunity in places like Ukraine and Syria, to mask his country’s increasingly beleaguered economy.

We have no fight with the Russian people, who are being misled, and the Prime Minister made that point in her excellent address.

A number of sanctions, including throwing out 23 so-called ‘diplomats’, is a bold move, but we’re dealing with a man who, in 2006, passed a law allowing agents to kill ‘enemies of the state’ abroad. This has all prompted a review of 14 other Russian-related deaths in the UK, including defector Alexander Litvinienko in 2006 and oligarch Boris Berezovsky in 2013.

Worryingly, another died in mysterious circumstances on Monday.

Putin is testing the West. Almost weekly Russian bombers penetrate our air defences, undersea communications and energy cables lie vulnerable and virtually unguarded and there are warnings of cyberattacks on our media, telecommunications and energy sectors.

Another Cold War? I hope not, but relations with Russia are cooling demonstrably.

NATO must remain strong and united in its condemnation of this appalling attack on UK soil. It’s a reminder, how important our armed forces are. I have advocated for some time that we should spend more on them, and I still do.

For although it’s unlikely we’d operate alone, we should have sufficient fire power on land, sea and in the air to make a valuable contribution to our NATO allies should, God forbid, the need arise.