FOX'S WARNING

“Grave political consequences for us, destroying much of the reputation and capital that you, and we, have built up in recent years...Party, media, military and international reaction will be brutal.”

These extracts from a letter to the Prime Minister from Britain's Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, make clear why the government is so angry that it was leaked to the Daily Telegraph. Dr Fox warns the Prime Minister that the government's Strategic Defence and Strategy Review is “looking more like a super-Comprehensive Spending Review”. In other words a review that should be assessing Britain's defence needs for the next decade is being treated as part of the cost-cutting exercises to which all departments are being subjected by George Osborne and the Treasury. In his long letter Dr Fox explains in detail why the three armed services cannot have all the equipment they say they need; something will have to give, but the implication of the letter is that until the government makes some hard decisions about the nature and scale of Britain's future role in the world it is impossible for the military to say what savings they might be able to make. The letter also cautions that cuts to the Army should not be made while it is fighting in Afghanistan. Downing Street said yesterday that the letter was a “normal part” of government consultation. I don't think so.

Having read it in full, I think it is exceptional.