November 24: Ironic timing of defence review

THE tragic events in Paris – and the likelihood of British airstrikes against the Islamic State being extended to targets in Syria – provide a bleak backdrop to the five-yearly Strategic Defence and Security Review which David Cameron unveiled after a fleeting visit to France to pay Britain’s respects to the innocent people gunned down by rampaging terrorists 10 days ago.

Yet links between the £12bn increase in defence spending, and military intervention in Syria, do need placing in context. The SSDR has been months in the planning and the prospect of RAF bombing raids over Syria only returned to the political agenda in the aftermath of the awful atrocity on the streets of Paris.

However, while some will question the eyewatering sums being spent on military hardware when hospitals are so strapped for cash, the fact of the matter is that world events have forced Mr Cameron to reverse some of the more draconian decisions taken in 2010 and that the Armed Forces will still be stretched until two new rapid-reaction “strike brigades” become operational.

That said, Mr Cameron’s first duty is to protect the national security of the UK and it would have been the height of irresponsibility if he had not provided the Armed Forces and intelligence services with the latest hardware – it is a sad fact that this country needs to be prepared for all eventualities.

The one saving grace is that this SSDR has been presided over by a Tory government rather than a Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour party in which Maria Eagle, the Bridlington-born Shadow Defence Secretary, effectively has to answer every question on strategy with the words “I don’t know”. That’s not a defence policy.

More home truths: Housing shortage needs tackling

IN the week of the Autumn Statement which will see the Government reiterate its desire to preside over a new era of home ownership and prosperity, it is a sobering thought that families across Yorkshire need a 62 per cent pay rise, according to the National Housing Federation, if they’re to secure a tentative first step on the property ladder.

The Government will contend that it is addressing this issue by extending the right-to-buy policy, one of the Thatcher government’s building blocks, to housing association properties. Yet the reality is that the number of people to benefit from this scheme is just a fraction of all those who cherish owning a home of their own.

Their dream is now a fading one because of issues beyond their control like rising rents – one of the legacies of Britain’s abiding failure to build sufficient homes and replenish those council houses which were then purchased by tenants at discount prices. And it is a situation which will only get worse unless there is a dramatic expansion in house building plans.

Of course, this will not find favour with those campaigners, like those in North West Leeds, who are opposing new plans because the existing infrastructure is at breaking point. And they’re right. There is no reason why housing cannot be targeted at redundant brown field sites – or those rural communities which would actually benefit from new homes and so on in order to support local services. All that is required is for there to be sufficient incentives to make this happen – and for local authorities and developers to start thinking outside the box rather than simply concreting over the countryside.

Botham 60 not out: Legacy of Headingley ‘81 heroics

AS the irrepressible Sir Ian Botham prepares to toast his landmark 60th birthday, there’s a case to be made for his swashbuckling century against the Australians at Headingley in 1981 being named as cricket’s most influential innings.

Although other batsmen have scored more runs, this bravado, straight from the annals of Boy’s Own, not only galvanised a nation worn down by industrial strife and social disorder, but it proved to be the catalyst for a series of gruelling long-distance charity walks which continue to this day.

Not content with raising millions for charity, most notably Leukaemia Research after being touched by a youngster’s plight during a hospital visit, Sir Ian is now preparing for a 100-mile walk across South Africa that will combine three of his great passions – cricket, walking and fine wine.

It’s an extraordinary legacy – the world would be a much poorer place if Sir Ian, who now lives in North Yorkshire, had not hit the tiring Australian attack to all parts of LS6 on that defining afternoon for British sport when the impossible suddenly became possible.