MoD must end power struggle

The problem, as David Cameron is discovering, is that the timing of any such review might not keep pace with rapidly-changing events in a world that has been made even more uncertain by the Arab Spring.

Furthermore, the manpower at the Ministry of Defence’s disposal will be very different in four years hence once the last British troops have left Afghanistan. The uncertainty is whether Afghan forces will, in 2015, be capable of keeping the Taliban at bay.

It was again claimed this week that the ground gained by heroic UK soldiers in Helmand, and which has resulted in so many fatalities, could be captured by the enemy within 24 hours of British forces leaving this hell-hole. What will Mr Cameron then do?

With Muammar Gaddafi proving to be a far more formidable foe in Libya than Mr Cameron, and the rest of Nato for that matter, had envisaged, there is an overwhelming need for Britain’s future defence capabilities remaining as flexible as possible. Yet the premature scrapping of aircraft carriers, like HMS Ark Royal, suggests that the Government has not paid sufficient heed to this requirement – as exemplified by the continuing leaked documents that reflect poorly on the Ministry of Defence.

Furthermore, there have been too many instances when the chiefs of the Army, Navy and RAF have been vying for personal supremacy rather than pulling together. It is a fault that has been highlighted today by the Royal United Services Institute in a report which reveals the counter-productive nature of the in-fighting at the MoD.

These criticisms need addressing. For, as well as the needs of MoD bureaucrats appearing, on occasion, to take undue precedence over the requirements of personnel on active service, this perpetual power struggle must be very dispiriting to those members of the Armed Forces who continue to risk their lives in this Government’s name.