Britain must be more vigilant
by Philip Blond / September 19, 2012 / Leave a commentPublished in October 2012 issue of Prospect Magazine
Photo: Major Paul Smyth (crown copyright)
By 2020, the government will have cut the British Army from 102,000 to 82,000. The security and defence review acted as if Iraq and Afghanistan were the last big wars that Britain would fight. The assumption appeared to be that a conventional war, or even a sizable conflict in Europe, is now unthinkable.
But it isn’t. The future stability of Europe should not be taken for granted. Around its border there are threats to European security of such significance that Britain must fundamentally rethink its current defence strategy.