The situation of under-funding of the Armed Forces is not new....it goes back decades, centuries etc.
There are a number of new ingredients in this particular situation:
- The Armed Forces are not simply for defence of the realm or attacking somewhere else. They are an arm of government. This extends into the
PR realm. The government need to be seen to be doing something - simple, they send in troops. Hence the Kosovo deployment, Afghan reinforcements etc. Doing nothing or saying "we can't manage" would not be the correct message to send to the electorate and may cost opinion poll points.
- There is a genuine belief that the message can be spuin to internal and external audiences regardless of the reality.
- Parliamentary accountability and standards in public life are easily the lowest in living memory. Lying is routine, whether to internal or external audiences.
I suggest a petition in the public domain signed by serving personnel to express their discontentment. It would be a breach of the new DIN but that is an ill-conceived draconian gag in any case. If enough signed then there would be a massive impact and those signing would be immune from charges or administrative action by virtue of numbers and public support. The only way the government will act is if inaction will cost more in political terms than action.