A Very British Battle
Analysis
BBC
4.6 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 12 February 2018
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The latest round in the fight over the future of the UK armed forces is raging in the corridors of Whitehall. As politicians and military top brass argue about money, wider questions about what we want the Army, Navy and RAF to do once again top the defence agenda.
Caroline Wyatt spent many years covering defence for the BBC and has heard warnings from retired generals about chronic under-funding many times. But with army numbers already down to a level not seen since before the Napoleonic Wars, big projects like the F-35 fighter jets in trouble, and a £2bn a year black hole in the defence budget, further salami slicing seems untenable. How then to prioritise which capabilities the UK must maintain and improve?
The UK faces an intensified threat from Russia, 'hybrid' warfare where cyber attacks and political destabilisation are used alongside military force, and advances in missile technology. Post Brexit, the UK's strategic position both globally and within the European defence space is unclear. How we want to deploy our armed forces - where, with whom, and at what cost - is once again up for debate.
Producer: Lucy Proctor.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.6 | My name's Linda Davies and I commission podcast for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.4 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable |
| 0:14.3 | experts and genuinely engaging voices. What you may not know is that the BBC |
| 0:20.4 | makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.0 | This is the BBC. |
| 0:40.0 | Hello I'm Hugh Levinson, the editor of Analysis. A little while ago I heard a very powerful speech by General Sir Richard Barons who was concerned about what he saw as the hollowing out of our armed services. Intriging. So we decided to make this program and while we were making it, an Almighty Kefuffle began in the cabinet over defense spending. So what kind of military should we have and how much should we spend on it? |
| 1:06.5 | Over to Caroline Wyatt. |
| 1:12.1 | The year is 2025. |
| 1:15.0 | Russia has invaded the Baltics. |
| 1:17.0 | NATO's tripwire force, including a British brigade, is quickly pushed back. Chaos, panic and violence break out among civilians |
| 1:27.8 | across the continent. |
| 1:28.8 | The UK agrees to deploy its full fighting capability, the joint expeditionary force, on land, at sea and in the air. |
| 1:39.0 | But things don't go to plan when British troops push through to the Baltics and encounter the full night of Russia's rebuilt military. |
| 1:47.0 | The Russians threaten to launch nuclear weapons if NATO seeks to dislodge them from their new borders |
| 1:55.4 | which once again include the Baltic states. In a matter of days a hundred |
| 2:01.7 | thousand British soldiers, sailors and air personnel are dead. |
| 2:06.2 | This was how one war game played by Defence Insiders ended last year. |
| 2:10.9 | Just one of many scenarios were in Britain's top brass as they warn the government |
| 2:15.2 | against fresh cuts to the armed forces. |
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