So, Gordon Brown has finally admitted what every man and women in the Army, Navy, and Air Force has known for the last eight years at least – our Forces have been suffering real-terms cuts. They have been grossly underfunded.
Sir Kevin Tebbit has already said that as Permanent Secretary he was operating the Ministry of Defence under a permanent crisis budget. Geoff Hoon has admitted that the last Strategic Defence Review was not fully funded. And the Conservative Party has been arguing as much for years.
Where do we go from here?
I believe that despite the straitened financial circumstances, Britain must retain current levels of defence spending over the next parliament. There are three good reasons.
Firstly, if we do not, our military standing in the world will decline further than it already has. For centuries, our forces have been the foundation of Britain’s place as a pre-eminent power in world affairs. Over the last few years, that reputation has been slowly strangled through political neglect. Twenty years ago defence spending was 4% of GNP, now it has fallen to 2.6%. Underfunding of our armed forces has left a skeleton of what was once a feared and formidable force. We do not have enough troops. As of late 2008, the British armed forces were 3.2% below the official requirement. At various points in the last few years, many battalions are as much as 42% under strength.
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