The Daily Telegraph uses the Ukraine war to promote itself

The Daily Telegraph is an institution in Great Britain. Because of its traditional affinity with the Conservative Party, the paper is popularly known as the "Tory Graph." When the Telegraph, published since 1855, sets the tone, this is important for the Tory Party, but also for its growing right-wing nationalist rival, Reform UK.

In this context, a new advertising campaign by the traditional newspaper is noteworthy. Under the motto "we speak your mind," large posters across the country, for example, convey the message: "Since when is pride in your country a prejudice?"

The allusion to the culture war over the legacy of the empire, however, generated far less of a response on social media than the posters about the Ukraine war, which are part of the same campaign: "Ever heard of Riga, Tallinn, or Vilnius?" it reads in large letters. "You will if we abandon Kyiv."

The reference to the fear that Vladimir Putin could also attack the NATO states of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania amounts to a bold statement. This also reflects the fact that Ukraine has consistently enjoyed greater support among the British population in recent years than in other Western European countries .

A 2024 study found that only 9 percent of Britons blame NATO for the war in Ukraine, while 87 percent blamed Moscow. In Italy, 35 percent of respondents identified NATO as the main culprit. Only around 10 percent of Britons believed that Ukraine should be pressured to accept territorial losses because of the negative economic consequences for their country. In Germany and France, around a third of respondents expressed this view.

The reasons for the pro-Ukrainian sentiment are complex. Political scientists link it to the general acceptance of military operations abroad. Other observers cite the memory of the fight against Nazi Germany in Europe, which still plays an important role in British national consciousness.

Trends from the US tend to quickly spill over into the UK. The British culture war, for example, is heavily influenced by American rhetoric. Representatives of the Reform and Tory parties sought ties with the MAGA movement after Trump took office.

But since then, the goodwill for Trump has faded, even in the commentary columns of the Telegraph . Allister Heath, the sharp-tongued editor-in-chief of the Sunday Telegraph, recently praised Trump's successes in the fight against irregular migration and his diversity and equality policies. However, he accused him of spreading absurd trade theories that his followers are forced to parrot against their better judgment: "Right-wing wokeism is almost as habit-forming as the left-wing original."

Trump's Ukraine policy also finds little resonance in Great Britain. Nigel Farage's Reform Party only cautiously flirts with pro-Putin rhetoric. As the head of the polling institute Opinium recently explained , support for Ukraine among the British remains virtually unchanged. Trump, on the other hand, remains unpopular with a popularity rating of just 16 percent.

With its incisive advertising campaign on Ukraine, the Telegraph not only makes clear that the geopolitical interests of the British Conservatives differ from those of their American counterparts. It also knows that the majority of Britons are behind it – and cleverly exploits the pro-Ukrainian sentiment for its own publicity.