Why is it that whenever anyone talks about the free passage of maritime trade being interrupted (the normal scenarios are pirates and/or the closure of the Straits of Hormuz) people seem to think it is down to the UK to sort out the problem. THIS WOULD BE A GLOBAL PROBLEM (Straits of Hormuz) or at the very least a EUROPEAN PROBLEM (pirates) with a proportionate response from those effected. Yes, the UK would suffer given such scenarios but we wouldn't be alone by any means, and the response wouldn't be solely down to us.
Are you therefore, suggesting it would be okay to abdicate our responsibilities and free-ride on the resources of others...if we carry on the way we are going, both the United States and France are going to start seriously questioning what we bring to the party in return for their involvement, if they haven't done so already.
And given the fact that the MoD is currently running a surplus of up to £2 billion a year, which it is allowed to roll forward, do you not see there being even a slight possibility that some of this could be allocated to a MPA? What would you say for example, if the trend continued and we see a reverse bow wave from our experiences in the last decade? Would you still say "there's no money and no way in hell we'll be getting anything", given that the budget already has £8 billion in contingency funding written into it over the next 6 years, do you not think this is ever so slightly pessimistic?