7/7/26

ARMS RACE

 

There’s a lot of noise in the political sphere about the defence plans announced by the PM, with military leaders and defence ministers condemning it as too little. On the contrary, it seems to me that we spend too much on defence and cut spending in most other areas– including the cuts to the aid budget which not only cost lives but also reduce our soft power, make conflicts more likely, and add to the arguments for more spending on defence, a true own goal. The big culprit in all this is our nuclear capability. A commitment of £63bn to further enhancing this capability is proposed.

 

To be clear, we have for many years invested in Trident and now Dreadnought nuclear capabilities and the bill has been huge. All for weapons we will never use, which make use of nuclear against us more, rather than less, likely and which, if used, would kill many millions of innocent civilians, men, women, and children. Weapons which threaten to break our non-proliferation undertakings and turn us all into war criminals.

 

The Strategic Defence review identified the threats we face in the modern world as cyber threats, threats to undersea cables, and threats from drones – all of which imply refocussing the spend on these areas. Instead, we seem to be buying more boys’ toys, dancing to the tune played by the defence manufacturers and wasting money in the process.  I struggle to see how we rescue our politicians from the spell they seem to be under, and I worry that engaging in what amounts to an arms race can have only one result.

 

The new seneschal

 

Appointment to the court

meant an induction process

for the new seneschal

proud but eager to please

 

responsible for the defence of the realm

he met with King and courtiers

the Grand Vizier, the power brokers

the eminence grise

 

the message they gave him

was, in short, not to rock the boat

their words and blandishments

casting a spell

 

keep spending, buy more

all will be well

we need to counter

every threat

 

he dreamt he was in a pond

surrounded by a hundred frogs

each demanding attention

clamouring to be heard

each one with goods to sell

a weapons system, a killing machine

‘Kiss me’ each cried ‘Kiss me’

‘a decision you won’t regret’

 

 years passed and when he awoke

he was alone

surrounded by a wasteland

the frogs were gone

 

the court, the king, the nation

all consigned to history

leaving only memory

and devastation