SRENNAPS,
I agree entirely. Over the years I have generally found myself more sympathetic to the Tories than any other party, but I have never really believed that their commitment to the Forces was any better than New Labour's. In fact, when it comes to Defence in the round, I find the Tories to be remarkably 2 faced. At least with Labour we knew we were on a hiding to nothing.
However, for Cameron et al to spend all their time in opposition hammering Labour for their performance and then to come in and within weeks start the open and systematic pulling apart of the Forces, it does rather stick in the throat. Making efficiency savings is one thing, but they are rapidly moving into the realm of dismantling the Forces' capability to effectively defend this country, its people and its interests. Look no further than Osborne's insistence that the capital costs for Trident come out of the Defence Vote; if he gets his way that will do nothing other than leave us with a capability based around a handful of SSBNs and the rest of the Forces as little more than a gendarmerie.
And quite frankly, hiding behind their 'its not our fault Guv' line is already growing tiring. I'd be a lot happier if they came out with the truth that they would rather spend the money on building lesbian gym facilities in Mongolia and various other 'worthy' causes in the name of international development than defending the population who put them in power. Unfortunately, actually getting to the crux of the problems of inefficiency, a bloated hierarchy looking for the next stripe / knighthood and appalling procurement is politically far harder than just chopping the bottom end of the foodchain.