The defence of our country is something every Prime Minister cites as being their primary duty on taking office. Then someone from the Treasury shows them how much it would cost to sort it out, and they largely ignore it for the remainder of their stint (unless it’s time for a photo op in uniform). And thus it has been for the last 30-odd years.
But we are now at something of a nexus. The requirement to increase defence spending is self-evident. Decades of under-resourcing has left us paper-thin in a number of critical areas even during peacetime operations. Our war resilience is worse. All this while a war rages in Europe, perpetrated by a country which attacks us on a daily basis in the cyber domain and grey zone, and whose ability to do so will only rise if something approaching a ceasefire is managed on the mainland.
True, the Prime Minister plans a modest increase for Defence. But as a friend of mine inside the MoD said in response: “Defence will still be worse-off than it needs to be. And with no new money [until 2027], we will still need a round of cuts in the near term”. Besides, the extra six billion pounds a year uplift has been taken from the overseas aid budget which many argue forms part of the overall UK defence package since it helps deliver the sort of soft power that prevents conflicts in the first place. So the sum is inadequate and it’s the wrong budget to have robbed from.
The defence of our country is something every Prime Minister cites as being their primary duty on taking office. Then someone from the Treasury shows them how much it would cost to sort it out, and they largely ignore it for the remainder of their stint (unless it’s time for a photo op in uniform). And thus it has been for the last 30-odd years.
But we are now at something of a nexus. The requirement to increase defence spending is self-evident. Decades of under-resourcing has left us paper-thin in a number of critical areas even during peacetime operations. Our war resilience is worse. All this while a war rages in Europe, perpetrated by a country which attacks us on a daily basis in the cyber domain and grey zone, and whose ability to do so will only rise if something approaching a ceasefire is managed on the mainland.
True, the Prime Minister plans a modest increase for Defence. But as a friend of mine inside the MoD said in response: “Defence will still be worse-off than it needs to be. And with no new money [until 2027], we will still need a round of cuts in the near term”. Besides, the extra six billion pounds a year uplift has been taken from the overseas aid budget which many argue forms part of the overall UK defence package since it helps deliver the sort of soft power that prevents conflicts in the first place. So the sum is inadequate and it’s the wrong budget to have robbed from.