Let me re-phrase it, Inkworm, should we really rely on any media report? Having said that and in response to your last point, possibly not.
Whether it’s Guardian or Mail there’s no doubt more cuts are on their way – it has been all accross the media.
In the FT this morning:
The MoD has to cut its budget by 7.5 per cent in real terms between now and 2014-15. As the Financial Times reported last month, the MoD appears to be well short of reaching its target for spending cuts in 2014-15 – and this is affecting the blueprint for expenditure that must be agreed by April.
Liam Fox has admitted as much
“We are working our way through the current planning round and we always knew we would have a big task to achieve the necessary savings over the next four years”
“If you read the press, you’ll see each of the three services is briefing out that it is about to disappear. This happened in the SDSR. This time, we’ll be keeping decisions much closer to our chests.”
In the SDSR the government have set out the force numbers they want by 2020. So we’re looking at 2 FJ types in Typhoon & F-35 – that immediately makes Tornado vulnerable.
They state 19 DD/FF by 2020, which could mean Illustrious or Ocean going immediately.
The additional Chinooks would also look like a non-starter if it weren’t for the fact that it is politically difficult to cancel and as we know political consideration seems to trump the Military one these days.
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