War footing

AS the gulf between the Government and Britain’s defence chiefs grows wider with each passing day, and concerns increase about the length of the Nato-led mission in Libya, it is ironic that Liam Fox should now be calling on military commanders to voice any concerns in private. He had no problems with the Chiefs of the Defence Staff speaking out when Labour were in power. He exploited these grievances ruthlessly.

If it was not for the candour shown by the military top brass in the past year, taxpayers – and also serving members of the Armed Forces – would be none the wiser about the nature of the cuts that are taking place, and how ill-conceived decisions by politicians are having such a destabilising effect.

The consequence is that Dr Fox, the Defence Secretary, has been left bereft of credibility as he, belatedly, attempts to salvage his reputation by streamlining management procedures at the Ministry of Defence. Of course, the MoD should not be immune from Whitehall’s efficiency drive and service chiefs could, and should, have been far more pro-active in identifying savings.

That said, Dr Fox should be careful about excluding some of his perceived opponents from the decision-making process, given the fundamental link between budgets and deployment costs. While many politicians might regard themselves as “armchair generals”, this is no substitute for battlefield experience when deciding whether to send soldiers, pilots or Naval personnel into war.

His approach merely re-enforces the belief that there is a schism between defence chiefs and their political rulers that needs bridging before it is allowed to cause even more mistrust.