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Defence in the United Kingdom

I have heard this argument on a number of occasions: that because the Conservative Government made cuts when commitments were coming down, this Government can continue to make cuts when commitments are going up. It is rather like saying, ““Because you cut off a toe, I am entitled to cut off your leg.”” The situation is different, and the sooner the Secretary of State understands that, the better. The cold war ended; the commitments changed; we made reductions. Now the commitments are increasing again. Even his own report recently made that clear, yet we are seeing the commitment of resources going down.