Twice in the past two months, the British Army has attempted to raise the profile of Defence Spending with off the record briefings by senior retired officers, but sadly I don’t expect their efforts to be rewarded this week.
In the battle for local council funding, health, social care and education, energy, transport and housing, the plight of the armed forces appears to languish at the bottom of voters’ priorities. Before 9/11, I spent 18 months touring the country explaining to audiences made up of local opinion formers how tax-payers money was being used. That digital presentation, which was based on real-life experiences, opened eyes to an exciting world that people didn’t know about. The feedback (which was monitored independently) revealed that the subtle messaging managed to persuade many civilian gatekeepers and local media correspondents to support the armed forces in the battle for funding.
A recent newspaper article suggested that due to reductions in the past decade, the British Army is no longer rated as first class by the USA. This sad fact is not disputed, but neither is it likely to make any difference this week when the focus of the Chancellor is on tax cuts and domestic issues. As we look through our binoculars at the coming budget, any uplift is likely to be put towards Security assets, rather than military hardware and as ever, the devil will be in the detail…
Rupert Wieloch 