Vance remarks 'unreasonable' says ex-RAF chief

Sir Michael Graydon told BBC Look North he had "never seen anything like it" in response to JD Vance's remarks

A former head of the RAF said comments made by the US vice president were "intensely disappointing, undiplomatic and unreasonable".

JD Vance was accused by UK opposition politicians of disrespecting British forces after he said a US stake in Ukraine's economy was a "better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years".

As part of a peace deal, the UK and France have said they would be willing to put troops on the ground in Ukraine.

Sir Michael Graydon, who was Chief of the Air Staff in the 1990s and now lives in Lincolnshire, said he had "never seen anything like it".

JD Vance has since insisted he did not "even mention the UK or France" but did not specify where he was referring to

Vance has since said he did not "even mention the UK or France", adding that both had "fought bravely alongside the US over the last 20 years, and beyond".

Sir Michael, 86, who retired from the RAF in 1997, played a major role in the Gulf War in 1991 and advised the government over no fly zones in Bosnia during the Balkan Wars during the 90s.

Responding to Vance's comments, he told BBC Look North: "I've had a lot of experience working with Americans over the years at quite a high level.

"Never in my life have I seen anything quite like that.

"It was intensely disappointing to see a vice president of the United States use words and actions which were just so undiplomatic and unreasonable."

'People feel insulted'

Dereck Hardman, who runs the Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast Clubs in Hull, said: "People feel insulted, especially those that served in places like Afghanistan and Iraq through the two Gulf Wars."

Sir Michael added that "whether we like it or not", US President Donald Trump and Vance "have managed to do something presidents have failed to do for decades."

"It was to make the Europeans wake up and realise there are no free lunches any longer and they've got to start spending money on defence," he said.

"It's just a shame it has been done in this rather brutal and antagonistic way."

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