Why losing a (small) war would do us all some good

Last updated at 15:43 25 July 2004

Britain urgently needs to lose a small war. Unless we do so, we shall sooner or later lose a large one and that will be the end of us.

Our armed forces have for years been too competent for their own good. Their success has allowed cheapskate, dishonest politicians to starve them of money and damage them with silly ideas.

Only determination, personal courage and tradition have kept them going. They have - under both the Useless Tories and Anti-British New Labour - had little ammunition or fuel for training. Individual soldiers have to buy proper equipment out of their own pockets.

Political correctness has been imposed on them. They have also been lucky to be sent out against opponents who, for the most part, were even worse-equipped than they were.

The false belief that we still have proper capable armed services has persisted long after it stopped being true. If ever they faced a serious enemy at short notice, they would be in trouble. This isn't because they're not brave but because, in the end, courage can't overcome better equipment and training.

Now they are to be attacked again. And the proposed cuts will most certainly happen, unlike the fake reductions in the Civil Service. Anthony Blair is happy to sack soldiers, sailors and airmen. They are among the few public servants who might not vote Labour.

Those he can't and won't sack are outreach workers, condom distributors and NHS target-chasers, the army of paid supporters hired with your tax money in an act of jobbery and corruption so huge and shameless that it is accepted without question as normal. It is no good saying that there is no obvious purpose for the armed forces. Ninety years ago this very day, a wholly peaceful Britain was entirely unaware that within eight days it would be pulled into the most destructive war in human history - a war largely caused by our failure to build a proper army before 1914.

Almost all wars come as a surprise. A country which does not have serious armed forces tells the world that it no longer values its liberty and independence. Also, our forces are sustained in their discipline and morale by the knowledge that they inherit a centurieslong tradition of valour.

The proposed vandalism will destroy the very things - ancient names and continuity - which make this possible. Once gone, they cannot be rebuilt. And we shall be naked in an unpredictable, dangerous world. Only a government which hates this country could do this.