By Rab Bruce’s Spider

So we’ve had another Strategic Defence & security Review. Well, it’s only right that the Government should keep one of its prime responsibilities under review, so no complaints there. What does seem odd, though, is that this review is reversing some of the decisions made as a result of the last one.

For example, having scrapped a fleet of maritime patrol aircraft, the Nimrods which were being updated to ensure they could meet modern requirements, we are now apparently going to purchase some converted American airliners which will now be capable of use as maritime patrol aircraft. So, instead of boosting British air industry, we’re supporting our allies. Great. But we do need these aircraft because we currently rely on Ireland and other NATO countries for maritime patrol. Fortunately, the Russians have cooperated in driving this change of policy by the UK Government by helpfully sending a submarine into Scottish waters on the very day that the SDSR was being announced. That’s international cooperation for you. The one thing missing from most news reports on this decision, though, is that it has allegedly cost over £3 billion. Many people warned that scrapping the Nimrod fleet was a bad idea and I suppose we should be grateful the UK Government has at last acknowledged their stupidity, if not their financial mismanagement.

Sticking with aerial matters, it seems the UK is purchasing yet more of the inordinately expensive F35 jets for our aircraft carriers. Britain has already paid out billions of dollars to help fund the development of these aircraft so it makes sense to benefit from that investment by actually using the aircraft. Except that there is a big problem with these planes, namely that they don’t work properly. F35 engines have a tendency to burst into flames at unexpected moments, a habit which caused the entire US fleet of these planes to be grounded last year and why only a dummy was perched on the deck of Britain’s new aircraft carrier when it was launched. And even if the engine problems are resolved, the F35 won’t be much use in combat since it doesn’t have working targeting software for its guns, so it can’t actually shoot at anything. Still, never mind, it can carry bombs so we’re fine for bombing Muslim countries, which is what Britain’s foreign policy seems to mostly consist of these days.

The other major aspect of the SDSR is the news that the number of frigates to be built on the Clyde is to be cut from the 13 promised during the IndieRef to only 8. Oh, well. Just another Better Together promise broken, a few thousand jobs at risk in the shipyards and a smaller conventional Navy than we were promised.

There’s not much to say about the extra money suddenly found to boost Special Forces and anti-terrorist units. The problem with decrying that expenditure is that the Government is very secretive about the terror plots it claims to have prevented. They may be right and the money might be well spent but there are a few well-informed commentators who claim that much of this is hyperbole which serves only to ensure the growth of the security industry and the grip on power of the Westminster Establishment.

But at least we’re getting to renew Trident. That ought to frighten the terrorists, not to mention Russian submarines.