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Hello, I'm Alicia McCarthy.

Thanks for downloading the yesterday in Parliament podcast.

On Friday the 18th of July,

the peer who led a review into the UK's defences has told the Lords

it's an understatement to say the country isn't prepared for war.

Lord Robertson's review, which was

commissioned by the government shortly after last year's election, made 62 recommendations,

but he had a concise summary of its conclusions. We are underinsured, we are underprepared,

we are not safe. This country and its people are not safe. The Labour peer said he understood

that people worried about the cost of living, education, the NHS, but to quote Dennis Healy,

once we cut defence expenditure to the extent where our security is imperiled. We have no houses.

We have no hospitals.

We have no schools.

We have a heap of cinders.

Lord Robertson's review contained a raft of proposals, including on recruitment, cyber, technology and procurement.

For the Conservatives, Lady Goldie described it as a realistic assessment of the threats and challenges,

but she was one of many peers to raise questions about funding.

Amidst the language of readiness, immediacy and pace, repeated by the noble Lord Lord Robertson this morning,

there is a mismatch with pace by reference to, for example,

when circumstances allow or in respect of essential equipment, no specific date. But in that,

I detect the meddling fingers of the Treasury. In February, the Prime Minister set out plans

...