A perennial problem for Opposition leaders – and particularly those that have never been in Government – is how they put forward their party’s defence credentials. They haven’t been in the high-level security meetings; they don’t have access to all the confidential data; and they haven’t made any of the key decisions. Why in a time of crisis should the public depart from the status quo?
On the surface, Cameron’s speech today was about how NATO should evolve for the 21st Century. But he also used it to reassure voters about the Tories’ security nous. His method for doing that? Name-dropping. Here’s one passage that jumped out at me:
“The blunt truth is that the NATO mission in Afghanistan has thrown up some fundamental problems which NATO leaders simply must face up to in Bucharest. These range from…
…competing and un-coordinated chains of command, which Senator McCain and I spoke about when he was here;
– and difficulty in working with other organisations such as the UN and EU, essential to delivering a comprehensive approach, a point I have discussed with Chancellor Merkel.”
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