The hard truth about Britain’s armed forces

There is something ironic about the fact that just as Donald Trump has made it clear that Europe needs to start defending itself, Britain has been moving in the opposite direction: and indulging in the fantasy of soft power.

Already this year, the government has argued that Britain must give away the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which is a puppet of China, because the International Telecommunications Union might rule against Britain and that such a ruling might put broad spectrum military communications at ‘legal risk’. You really cannot make this stuff up. Starmer has surrounded himself with unworldly left-wing lawyers such as Lord Hermer, who fellow Labour man Lord Glasman last week called the epitome of the arrogant progressive fool. But that is not the real issue. 

The hard truth is that Britain and other major western European powers have so neglected their armed forces over so many years they can barely afford to recapitalise them and pay for their running costs, never mind defend the continent.