Having just listened to the Vice Chief of the Defence staff General Sir Nicholas Houghton addressing the Parliamentary Defence Committee stating that all is well with our three services and they are all coping quite well with their commitments.
It was put to him that senior officers were claiming they were overstretched but he would not agree with that claim!!!
Instead of answering the question regarding any military short falls, he rambled on about definitions of resources, strategy, policy and aspirations. After about five minutes of classic 'Yes Prime Minister' civil servant mumbo jumbo, the chairman asked him about numbers and was he happy... 'Yes we are on course to lowering the size of our military to that required for 2024!!!'
This committee is the first port of call to get on side if we need more resources, to tell it we are coping and still making cut-backs doe not do the Air Chief Marshal any favours.
Yes a thousand times yes it can be argued I do not understand the game that big boys play, and this General may well be treating these senior MP's as fools but they were on the side of the military. They were trying to ask this person to confirm both the First Sea Lord and the Air Chief Marshal were correct in what they said... To disagree with his colleagues was perhaps not the answer that was expected!