Friday 2 April 2004

A cut too far

In the ideal world there would be no states. Even defence can be provided more efficiently by the free market than by any government.

But, let's face it, only a few of us have seen the light. Most people in Britain still pray at the altar of the Holy Church of the NHS (Unreformed) and don't even realise that state education is an oxymoron. So it'll be a wee while yet before we privatise the armed forces.

I am prepared to accept that, for the time being, defence is a legitimate function of government and one that needs to be carried out properly. Only a few days ago I read that the British Army would be unable to fight another war for five years. That's a ludicrous state of affairs and it makes this news so shocking:

The Ministry of Defence is planning the biggest cuts in Armed Forces' equipment for decades as part of attempts to save more than £1 billion from the defence budget.
Five RAF bases and two aircraft carriers are to be lost. The Army too faces swingeing cutbacks, including the Black Watch.

The military is just about the only part of our public sector that works well. I suppose that's why it's disliked by the wicked, anti-British, self-hating Blair clique.

We live in increasingly dangerous times. If we must have a state, we should be increasing expenditure on the military, not cutting back. The government's got plenty of money - almost everything else it spends is wasted.

I'd like to think that Her Majesty would veto this outrage and send a couple of Black Watch sergeants round to Downing Street to give Blair the news.