STH,
Savings, savings and more savings? Yes, it's a bit like that isn't it....
I found the chart in the NAO Report (
Ministry of Defence: Major Projects Report 2009). Figure 11, and a corrected version is on page 3.
The gap is massive, and then you realise that the line against which it is massive is "flat cash" - ie, same pounds this year and last, and the same again next etc etc. Which whilst it is a real terms cut (by the rate of inflation) is going to look like manna from heaven if the cuts come in at the 16% that all the political parties are talking about.
So, what chance of binning the savings culture and having a proper strategic look at (i) what we want and (ii) what the country is prepared* to afford.
*This is the political question. The country could probably afford to spend quite a lot more on the military if it chose to, but no-one's going to vote for that, so unsurprisingly, no-one is proposing it!
S41