Originally Posted by
Heathrow Harry
lets stay on topic
I'm a full-on Remainer but I honestly thin k this crisis has been coming for years.
The last Labour Govt committed to some very expensive kit (F-35, Carriers, SSBN replacement etc) which was much needed. After the financial melt down the cash just hasn't been there but it's been salami slicing by the Coalition & the Tories rather than face up to the real decisions.
Those can no longer be avoided Brexit or no Brexit
What's galling is that there was a big fanfare a while back saying all this had been sorted once and for all. Difficult decisions had been taken, the black hole eliminated and basket-case MoD planning had been fixed, with finances finally on a sound footing and a sizeable contingency built in. I can't see that post-referendum exchange rates are entirely to blame for the apparent reversal.
I also don't see how cuts on the scale described in the Times article (which as has been pointed out may well be bolleaux) could ever be squared politically with HMG's stated position on defence. They may of course be part of a softening up exercise so the actual cuts seem less severe when they happen.
It may also be the case that someone has decided to selectively leak the "unthinkable" end of the options looked at, which are always included for completeness so they can be eliminated, to generate hostile reaction.