As for Matt Hancock, he has lost the Whip and, unfortunately, can no longer be disciplined by the Conservative party. The slithy tove can – and must – be dragged before a Select Committee. Personally, I would like to see him in jail for the vast hurt he has caused. | So, here’s one Urgent Question for a plucky MP to ask: “Thank you, Mr Speaker. Will my Right Honourable Friend, the Secretary of State for Health, make a statement regarding the offer, revealed in the WhatsApp messages published in The Daily Telegraph’s Lockdown Files, which was considered by his predecessor to make NHS beds available to Covid patients from France? At that time, the British people were not allowed to access treatments, thousands upon thousands of operations were cancelled and non-Covid patients were sidelined to “support the NHS”, but apparently Mr Hancock considered it was appropriate to invite the French to use our medical facilities. What is the Secretary of State’s view on what that says about the true state of NHS capacity at that point, and was the nation perhaps deceived?” Dismayingly, if not entirely unpredictably, it was the very restrictions Matt Hancock and his lockdown zealots told us were necessary to save the health service which have very nearly finished it off. “The NHS has collapsed anyway as a direct result of the lockdowns and the vast backlog they caused,” says my source. Ironies don’t come much more bitter than that. (paywall)

■ ‘Project Fear’ authors discussed when to ‘deploy’ new Covid variant (The Daily Telegraph)
■ MSM Calls for the Arrest and Prosecution of British Health Minister for Covid Crimes (RAIR Foundation)
■ Lockdown Files: comment l’ancien secrétaire d’État à la Santé britannique Matt Hancock utilisait la peur et le chantage pour imposer de nouveaux confinements (FranceSoir)

Stephen Bryen (Asia Times) Both sides readying to go big militarily with nature’s thaw & place Europe on the brink of a great catastrophe | After the thaw comes the crunch for soldiers on both sides – including these Ukrainians – and Europe, perhaps the world. As it looks now, there are two potential spring offensives in Ukraine. Either of these offensives would be laden with significant risks for both sides. Predicting the outcome is difficult because outside players may intervene, especially US and NATO forces. ● The first offensive is fairly well known. It is the spring offensive being organized by the Russian army. Considerable preparations have been made over many months. The Russians have honed their tactics, brought in new offensive weapons and replaced equipment so far lost in the war, especially tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. [...] What isn’t known is how the Russians will use the large force they have assembled, numbering between 200,000 to 300,000. One theory is they will move out from the south and east in a wide encirclement trying to trap Ukrainian forces. ● The other spring offensive is the one that Ukraine is preparing for in earnest. This offensive probably has been planned in the Pentagon rather than in Kyiv. NATO is rapidly bolstering its forces. This past Saturday the US-flagged vehicle carrier Liberty Pride sailed into the port of Alexandroupolis, Greece, carrying military equipment destined for NATO forces. How many other US ships are in the ocean at the moment or arriving at other ports, isn’t yet known. But what is known is that NATO is girding itself for a spillover, once the Ukrainian offensive gets underway. The main focus of the Ukrainian spring offensive likely is an assault on Crimea and on Russian forces in the south. The objective is to cut them off (Kherson area across to Zaphorizia) and systematically destroy them, followed by a big push into Crimea. [...] Ukraine will have its hands full in such an operation and is dependent on US intelligence and, very likely, US airpower. There is not enough time to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s, and there are not any spare up-to-date F-16s to throw into the battle – unless, of course, US fighter squadrons are in the mix. One can expect that US aircraft will be painted over with Ukrainian insignia and flown by US or NATO pilots. [Ephasis-AWIP] These planes will operate as standoff assets, firing long-range air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons. ● If these prognostications on the two spring offensives are anywhere near correct – and there is plenty of evidence suggesting both offensives are being prepared – then Europe is on the brink of a great catastrophe.

vedomosti.ru (Ведомости) | Finland said that the prime minister's idea to transfer fighter jets to the AFU had not been discussed | The proposal to transfer the decommissioned Hornet fighter jets to Ukraine has not been discussed with anyone, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto has said. Earlier in Kiev, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said that the republic could discuss such a possibility, writes Helsingin Sanomat. 💬 "This has not been discussed with anyone," Niinistö's presidential office said. Finnish Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen also told Iltalehti that Marin had not told him about his initiative beforehand, and that if he had discussed the possibility of supplying fighter jets, he would have "stomped on" the idea. Marin said during a March 10 visit to Kiev that Finnish authorities could discuss sending Hornet fighters to Ukraine. 💬 "Yes, I think we can discuss the Hornet as well, whether it would be possible to transfer them to Ukraine and what kind of training would be needed for that," the Finnish prime minister said. According to the newspaper, the Finnish fighter fleet will be decommissioned from 2025 and will be replaced with F-35 fighters. ● On January 12, the president of Finland admitted that the country may transfer Leopard tanks to Ukraine, but only a few of them. He explained that this was due to the fact that Finland is not a member of NATO and borders with Russia. In late February, Helsinki reported that Niinistö had approved the delivery of three Leopard 2 tanks. It was reported that the cost of the new aid package to Ukraine would be more than 160 million euros. ● Russian authorities have repeatedly criticized the supply of Western arms to Kiev. In particular, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that pumping Ukraine with weapons brings NATO closer to the dangerous line of a direct military clash with Russia. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that the supply of long-range weapons would only expand the geography of special operations. (Translation: DeepL.com) (Photo © defenseworld.net)

■ Kuleba reveals which countries' fighter jets Ukraine is counting on (Yahoo!Finance)
■ Ukraine already knows type of aircraft it may get from Western allies (The New Voice of Ukraine)
■ Ukraine does not expect fighter jet deliveries in the near future, says top diplomat (TASS)