This is an opinion piece I wrote for a print news day on 15/10/11.
The warning from the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a BBC interview was surprisingly blunt, in a diplomatic sense anyway.
Washington is ‘worried’ about the upcoming cuts to the £37bn defence budget.
The alliance with Nato – the most successful defensive alliance in the history of the world she grandly proclaimed– must be maintained. If Mrs Clinton is willing to voice her concerns so publicly, one wonders what she is saying behind closed doors.
When the details of the Comprehensive Spending Review are announced on Wednesday, defence will bear some of the pain we have been softened up for.
William Hague has attempted assuage US fears, by saying the United Kingdom will ‘remain a military power of the first rank’, but there will be frayed nerves in Washington over the weekend and for a long time to come.
The cuts are coming: defence is not ring-fenced so savings will have to be made. The worry is that the cuts will fundamentally alter Britain’s role on the world stage.
But what is Britain’s role on the world stage? It is a simple question worth asking when assessing whether the defence cuts are a rational course of action, or an ill-guided exercise that will have disastrous consequences.
It has been 12 years since the last defence review, and the world has changed irrevocably since then. Indeed, in a globalised world the pace of change has quickened markedly.
Greater cooperation is needed among European nations because the balance of power has shifted. That does not mean it will happen.
Mr Cameron will be all too aware that measures such as combining weapons systems and working together on procurement projects would have some on the right of his party foaming at the mouth with indignation.
Amidst the proclamations from both sides, it is difficult to know which side of the argument to come down in favour of.
The ‘leaked’ letter from the Defence Secretary Liam Fox attempted to tip the scales towards the latter. Defence chiefs and those with a military background will of course fight their corner. Turkeys wouldn’t vote for Christmas.
It is hard to get an independent appraisal of what should be done.
The National Audit Office made such a contribution today when it revealed Labour had basically written a cheque it couldn’t cash by coming up with unrealistic budgets and slowing down projects. Things as they are cannot continue.
Clinton’s remarks carry weight and should be given a respectful hearing. After all, Britain and the United States have particularly close ties and are both fighting in Afghanistan.
But Prime Minister David Cameron should cut out the background noise, mull it all over and then do what he thinks is right.
One of his predecessors, Tony Blair, admitted that when he first came into office he tried to please all of the people all of the time. By the end he simply did what he thought was right. Mr Cameron should follow his instincts. You cannot please everybody in politics.
