Compounding Failure

The debate that has limped through recent days, largely in the letters columns of the minority press, shows the utter failure of the political class to recognise the constant imperative to maintain the national defences at whatever that may cost. The U K is effectively defenceless against jihadism, and the government (even more, the official opposition) is not willing to contemplate either the cost or the content of building adequate defences. Yet the chattering classes would have their political chums are talking pretty recklessly helping the spivs who run Ukraine finally to suppress - if not expel - the indigenous Russian speaking minority; who number several million. Whatever the weaknesses of the official Uranian army, the tough nut volunteers (notably the Azov brigade) are determined racists who want to wreak upon Russian speakers their vengeance for the horrors perpetrated on the country by the Georgian tyrant who called himself Stalin.

Retired generals, admirals and Air Marshals have battened onto the slogan that the UK should spend 2 % of GDP on Defence. That is nonsense: the country should spend what is necessary, thus generating employment and spin-off technology.

In the nineteen-naughties Germany started to build 'super-Dreadnoughts' . This alarmed the establishment of then-patriotic and intelligent people. HMS Dreadnought had been designed to put the Royal Navy ahead of all comers, but the Germans could copy it and their construction programme could enable them to pull ahead of Britain. So the cry went out "We want eight, and we won' t wait" and we built eight of these things every year until we outnumbered Germany' fleet. Nobody counted cost before national security: the money had to be found!

The country has effectively been stripped of defensive capability ; and, even more worryingly, of any willingness openly to face the fact.