Originally Posted by
Roland Pulfrew
I would contest that. We CAN afford to, it's just our politicians CHOOSE not to. Any nation that can spend £110 BILLION (that is over 2 1/2 times the Defence budget) on the bureaucracy that is the NHS can afford to be a world class player.
The NHS has become the UK's Sacred Cow - no political party dare challenge it for fear of loosing votes. ALL other Govt departments lose out because of the NHS (and International Aid) being ring fenced. What we cannot afford is the NHS. A 10% saving on the NHS budget would go a long way to solving the shortfall in Defence, and a 20% saving would probably fix it.
Wow
There was me thinking we had a defence capability to defend our way of life, of which the NHS is fairly central. We do not and should never have a defence capability to simply justify itself and maintain our so called position in the world. I think the comments re affordability are absolutely spot on. As difficult and unpalatable as it may be we need to be trimming back our aspirations. We had a good run, and a lot to be proud of, and we will go on to find another role for our talent.