News analysis and views -- economist.com
Britain's defence policy is straining its armed forces The unprecedented and ongoing criticism of the UK government by military experts including five former defence chiefs, has reinforced concerns that relations between the armed forces and the government may be close to breaking point. Since 1997 the armed forces have found themselves squeezed between increasing foreign commitments on the one hand, and insufficient funding on the other, resulting in large cuts to all three services. The strains may well worsen. Since September 11th 2001 the UK's armed forces have found themselves committed in large numbers for sustained deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, as part of former prime minister Tony Blair's promise in 2002 that Britain would pay the "blood price" to maintain its special relationship with the US. However, the government has been consistently unwilling to pay the "cash price" for such an undertaking, with the percentage increases in the UK defence budget paltry compared with that of the US. Although direct comparisons are difficult, the disparity is clear: according to the US Defense Department, its budget increased by almost 50% between 2001 and 2007; in the same period, the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) saw average real annual increase of around 1%. ...