Rhodes on a mini-missile, maximum irritation and calls for a hard line on eco-warriors

If nothing else, the war in Ukraine proves that the doctrine of “big is better” is over. Big columns, big tanks and big battleships have been zapped by little drones, little missiles and, coming shortly, little loitering munitions.

Look out for news of fiendish devices such as Switchblade, hundreds of which have been supplied to Ukraine by the US. They are about the size of a big Thermos flask and, at just 6lbs, can be easily carried by a soldier. Fired towards the enemy, they loiter over the scene, spotting likely targets which they then destroy with a small but accurate warhead. It's like every soldier having his own personal howitzer.

In a poll at the weekend, a majority of Brits supported tougher sentences for eco-warriors who cause mass disruption. That's understandable. It is profoundly irritating to be delayed for hours by self-righteous middle-class kids who are barely out of school, especially when we know more about the subject than they do.

We grown-ups know all about oil and insulation, thanks. Over the years we have spent thousands of pounds on lagging and double-glazing to keep our homes warm. At the urging of successive governments we have scrapped gas-guzzling cars and switched from leaded to unleaded, to diesel and back to petrol when diesel was monstered.

We have wept at the despoiling of beautiful landscapes by massive wind turbines, but come to accept them as a necessity. We scrimp, we save and now we are hammered by huge rises in our energy bills. And then along comes a bunch of twentysomething Home Counties revolutionaries, egged on by daft pensioners and brainless do-gooders, who think we haven't suffered enough.

There has never been a time in human history that some banner-waving loonies have not been forecasting Doomsday. Today's eco-idiots are merely the latest incarnation of those sad blokes in sandwich boards proclaiming “The end of the world is nigh”. No, it isn't.

The protesters do not have much public support. One online forum featured a 21-year-old eco-zealot who was jailed for breaking an injunction but has the full backing of his mum and dad. One reader commented: “Previously spent three months in prison and he's supported by his parents? Sounds like they want the spare bedroom back.” Tut, tut. Such cynicism.