tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5965333981619997978.post8137143546850226127..comments2023-11-03T08:40:03.424+00:00Comments on Jude Collins: Dervla's DilemmaJude Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02255073034338282041noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5965333981619997978.post-5140158557042707252010-08-03T20:18:51.030+01:002010-08-03T20:18:51.030+01:00You were much more direct in your valid comments o...You were much more direct in your valid comments on the cop out that the programme makers were guilty of than I was, although I used her reluctance to tackle the issues head on to raise other points.The Prime Ministerhttp://primeministersquestiontime.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5965333981619997978.post-59701139468913597982010-08-03T16:50:29.867+01:002010-08-03T16:50:29.867+01:00Thanks, hoboroad...Thanks, hoboroad...Jude Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02255073034338282041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5965333981619997978.post-64592478270711731812010-08-03T15:26:04.993+01:002010-08-03T15:26:04.993+01:00The PM wants Britain to punch above its weight, bu...The PM wants Britain to punch above its weight, but fiscal constraints mean hard decisions over outposts like the Falklands<br /><br />Are we approaching an "east of Suez" moment in British history? A crisis of international confidence in the nation's finances back in the late 60s saw Harold Wilson's Labour government forced to abandon most of the chain of overseas military bases Britain had formerly maintained from the Mediterranean to the South China Sea. The imperial retreat east of Suez was confirmation of Britain's fading power.<br />In the first few heady days of the coalition, there were noises that the government would ensure that defence spending matched Britain's aspirations to be a player on the global stage as well as what was needed for security at home. This was code for keeping Trident. Britain could not argue for a permanent place on the UN security council without nuclear weapons. Powers such as India would argue their time had come and Britain's was over.<br />Today's news is that India's time might be closer than we think. Our former colonial possession has no problems paying for its defence despite poverty abounding. In Britain, Liam Fox faces the Herculean task of finding £20bn from his own defence budget to keep Trident and the fleet submarines prowling under the seas.<br />Until now the defence secretary had been keen to stress that Trident would be funded by the Treasury. He has been relieved of such illusions by his cabinet colleague George Osborne. Fox could decide that we no longer need such weapons. The result would see the coalition go down in history as a British government that cut and run from Afghanistan and then unilaterally disarmed. One suspects this is not what David Cameron wants as a legacy.<br />The politics of retrenchment is never easy. In important ways the current Tory prime minister is haunted by his party's past. The draw back from empire was temporarily halted by a totemic victory in the Falklands over the Argentinian junta. Odd fields of glory like Goose Green and Port Stanley entered the lexicon as badges of British imperial pride.<br />Hovering above all this is Margaret Thatcher, the go-it-alone Tory PM for whom the sun never really set on empire. By winning the war she showed to many that a Britain shorn of imperial splendour could have an influence bigger than its much-diminished status justified.<br />But the coalition want and expect serious international clout – to "punch above their weight" in Cameron's own words. That means having a serious nuclear deterrent and a military able to project overseas. With the coffers empty and an ambitious intent to scale back public spending, the coalition perhaps should confront its own history and have a "south of Gibraltar" moment – relinquishing the military outpost of the Falklands and the series of tax havens in the Caribbean.<br />After all, the savings could be recycled into more relevant areas – say perhaps air defence? The south Atlantic is not cheap. Retarmacing the airstrips and refuelling missions that patrol British waters thousands of miles from home all costs real money. And while we draw down forces from Helmand can we really justify having a thousand men count penguins in the Falklands' freezing squalls? Even the race for oil in and around the South Pole should perhaps be left to those able to gamble with billions.<br />There is much to say our time is over. When future historians chart when the rise of the rest meant the end of the west, they may pinpoint our age as the start. Britain struggles with mounting health and pension bills. At the same time budgets will have to be squeezed so that we can start paying back the stimulus-induced surge in debt.<br />Everything is on the table. Even the ghosts of victories past. While Thatcher is alive such talk may remain a political no-no. But Cameron should confront it. Britain's place in the new world order can only be retained by leaving the shadow of its recent past.<br /><br />Taken from the Guardian newspaperhoboroadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01474379737795624096noreply@blogger.com