I'm John Batchew with Simon Constable, writes for Barons and Warrins and

other distinguished

publications. He is in the South of France reflecting on the politics of the moment. The war in Iran

following other conflicts like the war in Ukraine and like the wars that we've seen fought

in Gaza and Lebanon.

All that points up to the need for defense industries to stay up to date.

That makes a puzzle.

How is it that the Royal Navy, which is centuries famous,

the wall of oak that protects the English countryside.

How is it that it's fallen in disrepair and disrepute?

Not only internationally, but also locally, part of the dispute between the President of the United

States and the Prime Minister of Great Britain has to do with the expectation that UK would join in in the security of the Strait of Hormuz.

That is not to be the case as of now, Mr. Starrmer, has not acknowledged that he will join in.

There is some expectation he will protect the base you have in

Cyprus. There is some expectation that Mr. Starrmer may join in the security of Red Sea,

but that calls up to the status of your Navy and the status is poor. How did this happen, Simon?

It's happened over the course of your lifetime. There was

a very big Royal Navy at the end of the Second War. It continued through the Suez crisis in the

1950s, into the 1960s. And then what's happened? Well, when, I want to jump forward from

the 70s, right until the early 1990s, which is when the Cold War was over.

And I think a lot of governments in Europe thought, well, okay, if there's no Cold War going on anymore, do we need to spend all this money on defense? So the army went from, in 1982,

the army could send 150,000 soldiers and airmen and submariners and mariners as well,

...