A threat to kill

2, 2022.

According to Boris, it happened before the deployment of Russian troops to Ukraine. He had just returned from a visit to Kyiv and subsequently had what he described as a “very long, most extraordinary call” with the Kremlin.

As he explained in ‘Putin vs the West’, the Russian leader at that time maintained he would never invade his former Soviet neighbour. But, even as they spoke, battalions from the Russian military were building close to the border with Ukraine.

Boris said that he warned Putin not to try and invade because that would only lead to sanctions against Moscow. He also pointed out that such a move would mean “more NATO, not less NATO” on Russian borders.

Boris recalled: “He sort of threatened me at one point and said, ‘Boris, I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute’, or something like that,” the former PM continued.

THE brains behind The Written Word Group and author of The Old Man of Tiritiri Matangi, Berni Albrighton, has shared an insight into her inspirations.

“On a warm summer evening in 2008, I was nearing 50 and had been married to my husband, Steve, for 20 years. We sat playing music, drinking wine and having an intense conversation about life.”

One of us asked: “Will we always live here in the UK?”

It was the catalyst for events that saw the author leave her home, husband, teenage son and dog to take up a managerial position in Auckland, New Zealand.

Berni added: “Steve and my son agreed that I would go and lay the foundations of a new life for us, they would follow in a few months. No one knew the timing could be