'The skies are darkening': Ex-defence minister warns 'brutal dictators' on the rise Mark Francois, the former defence minister, described the plight of his D-Day veteran father while warning MPs that "appeasement of dictators" does not work today. In a passionate address, the MP told the Commons his father had told him the story of a "country that eventually, reluctantly had to go to war against the evil of Nazi tyranny". This was "because for years its politicians had been so parsimonious… and so naive that when Nazism emerged we completely failed to deter it", Mr Francois said. He added: "That...