The Edition: farewell to arms

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The Spectator

News Commentary, News, Daily News, Society & Culture

4.4 • 785 Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2023

⏱️ 39 minutes

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Summary

This week:

In his cover piece for the magazine, Andrew Roberts says that the British Army has been hollowed out by years of underfunding and a lack of foresight when it comes to replacing the munitions we have sent to Ukraine. Historian Antony Beevor and author Simon Jenkins join the podcast to discuss Britain’s depleted military (01:04).

Also this week: do religion and politics mix?

In The Spectator Isabel Hardman asks why it is that only Christian politicians are forced to defend their beliefs. This is of course in light of the news this week that Kate Forbes’s bid for SNP leadership may be derailed by her views on gay marriage. She is joined by former leader of the Liberal Democrats Tim Farron, who also writes for the magazine this week about his experience of – what Isabel calls – the secular inquisition (17:16).

And finally:

Christopher Howse writes about the transformative power of folk costume in his arts lead for The Spectator. He is joined by Mellany Robinson, project manager at the Museum of British Folklore and co-curator of the new exhibition Making Mischief: Folk Costume in Britain (27:55).

Hosted by William Moore.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is sponsored by Can Accord Genuity Wealth Management, experienced wealth planners and investment managers who offer unwavering support in challenging times.
0:10.0	Visit can-dowealth.com for more information. Hello and welcome to the edition podcast from The Spectator.
0:24.9	Each week we look at three pieces from the magazine with the writers behind them.
0:29.6	I'm William Moore, the Spectator's Features Editor.
0:32.9	On this week's episode, I'll be discussing Britain's depleted army, asking whether faith and politics can mix,
0:39.7	and learning about the transformative power of folk costume.
0:44.0	First up, farewell to arms. In his cover piece for the magazine, the historian Andrew Roberts
0:49.9	writes that the British army has suffered from years of underfunding, as well as a lack of foresight
0:55.1	when it comes to replacing the munitions we have sent to Ukraine. I'm joined by the historian Anthony Beaver
1:00.5	and the author and guardian columnist Simon Jenkins to discuss. Anthony, to start us off, what did
1:06.8	you make of Andrew's argument? Well, I agree with many aspects of it. I think one of the most
1:12.0	ridiculous things we had under Boris Johnson was the idea that we could be a global power with a
1:18.5	carry a fleet in the Far East and all the rest of it. That is simply preposterous. The trouble is
1:24.2	that we are a prisoner, really, of the past, whether it's a question of Trident.
1:29.8	The Americans don't want us to give up Trident for obvious reasons, but that's a totally
1:34.8	disproportionate part of our spending. So I think that the whole thing needs to be rethought
1:41.2	rather carefully, whether it's a question of getting rid of, as I say,
1:45.0	getting rid of Trident and all the costs there. Because if you don't have an army which can actually
1:49.6	operate certainly within area, as it was called in sort of Cold War days, forget about operating
1:57.7	out of area. But I mean, if we can't operate in Europe itself,
2:01.5	then I'm afraid the British Army is in a very, very sorry state.
2:06.1	And Ben Wallace's speech last month in which he said that the British Army has been, in his words,
	...

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