The UK has been a great naval power. In the 2 nd World war we still had a large fleet, and rapidly developed aircraft carriers when the war revealed they are crucial to provide air cover for large surface ships.
This century all 3 parties in government ran defence spending down and reduced the number of ships. Conservatives realised it had gone too far and started to rebuild before leaving office. Instead under this government it has become a rout. The Secretary of State removed the last minesweeper from the Gulf and did not keep a frigate in the area,. He allowed most of our modern sophisticated an air attach destroyers be in for deep maintenance at the same tine and failed to prepare Dragon for timely departure to support our Cyprus base. He approved both aircraft carriers being in home ports at the same time, leaving much of the world a long sea voyage away.
It looks as if this government was planning our disengagement from the Middle East and sea routes to India and China without announcing such a dramatic change of policy. Their wish to give Diego Garcia freehold away and to give the EU and Spain considerable control over Gibraltar is symptomatic of their casual wish to end our influence and to undermine the navy.
They talk all the time of stronger links with the EU rather than NATO, oblivious of how we rely on US collaboration for our defence and in ignorance of the poor defences of most western members of the EU. The EU is not going to protect us.
The government pretends to want higher spending on defence without budgeting the money. It needs first to tell us what extra ships, planes, drones, troops we need then go about procuring them. Urgently it needs to ensure many more of our current navaL vessels are at sea or ready to sail. We should be assisting convoys in the Gulf to protect our trade.
March 14, 2026
It is now clear that the political failure to maintain Britain’s defences is about to be completely laid open to view by Mr Trump’s call to other nations, including China interestingly, to help him to re-open the Strait of Hormuz. The French have already sent a major force to the Eastern Mediterranean. The only ship we were able to find is barely out of the Channel, and from what one hears, even if something is cobbled together to show a brave face, the support ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary are in such a poor state as to be mostly unseaworthy, so there will be big problems with supply and maintenance. We are very lucky that Mr Putin is tied up with The Ukraine.
March 15, 2026
So Trump tells us he’s won his war and doesn’t want or need our ships. Then a week later begs us to help him out of the hole he’s dug himself into. I don’t think so. This is not our war
March 14, 2026
Starmer clearly doesn’t believe in projecting power – or proper defence.
If he had his way we would be a neutered state like Eileen.
The EU could never replace NATO, it’s nothing but a talking shop and is dominated by France’s insistence on being top dog and the leading weapon supplier.
The only solution is for us to spend more money,, more efficiently and build a far bigger defence force.
We have to eliminate inter-service rivalry which has seen our Navy reduced to a shadow, despite having Brown’s two shiny carriers, which could be useful if we only had enough aircraft, and can’t be sent anywhere without the defensive screen being provided by NATO allies. We couldn`t defend the Falklands today because our NATO partners would not allow their destroyers and frigate to go with the task force.
As well as invest much more in kit and manpower,, we could look at re-organising our military along the lines of the US Marine Corp, which alone is now far bigger than our entire three services. A fully integrated force with no Air Marshals and far fewer Admirals and Generals, all wearing the same uniform.
Reply We have 6 destroyers and 7 frigates with new frigates on order so we should be able to put one carrier group to sea at any given time.
March 15, 2026
To reply:- plus two useless, ill specified, aircraft carriers (sitting ducks given the lack of support that they would need to avoid being sunk). Our defence procurement has been a sick joke for very many years. But then so has almost everything else about recent government. The two tier justice, the dire NHS system, a justice and immigration system with no real deterrents, the £600bn spend doing huge net harms during COVID, a bloated state sector, an inability to build houses due to planning obstructions, a mad energy policy (that about 90% plus of the population disagree with)… The Starmer, Reeves, Lammy, Milliband, Philipson government the most evil and appalling yet.
The doom loop politics of envy, suppression of free speech, open border and two tier justice. 40% of new house to go to migrants it seems. Who will pay for them?
Reply A carrier task force can successfully protect people and ships and project power, but not by staying in a home port.
March 14, 2026
The Bureaucrats are in charge, in some parts of the World they are also called bean counters – either way they miss the point by a wide margin.
The have one Destroyer on station you need 3 Destroyers. One is always being serviced/update, its the complexity of the beast. Another is on work up, training getting ready to relieve. So that the 3rd is on Station. The Navy as with all military personnel, provide 24/7/365 day protection and they are human, they deserve being treated as such. They don’t go home to their families every night they don’t knock off work at 5:00pm or start a 9:00am as such they have to be relieved sometimes.
Parliament takes the, lets be blunt, ‘piss’ at times forcing guys (& girls) to sit at the bottom of the Ocean for more than 200 days at a time without(really without) any outside World contact and getting just £500 per week, even then the MOD forces them to pay for food and lodging while on duty.
Then to dance around what is asked instead of just getting on with things Parliament and its Government to try and fudge their obligations by calling halts and having reviews so as to pause their obligations
March 14, 2026
History can be informative but the danger of looking at the modern world through a historical perspective is that the world changes and most of all in the modern world technology changes massively. World War 2 was over 80 years ago and then and in the days when Britain had the best navy in the world there were no accurate long range missiles and no drones. What use is their navy to Iran (sank before it could do anything) or its big Black Sea fleet to Russia (partly sunk and hiding away as too vulnerable to use even against a third rate military power, Ukraine)? Even the Falklands conflict over 40 years ago showed the vulnerability of surface ships – they are only of any use against very weak or very weakened adversaries. We need better defence spending more than we need more defence spending.
March 14, 2026
We need to think about our foreign policy objectives and strategy first and then figure out what sort of armed service would correspond to our needs.
No-one will come to our support unless it fits in with their interests. I don’t believe the US is a friend: we are its vassal state as much as (perhaps more than) the Gulf arabs. The relationship is both demeaning and abusive. We support and join its wars and follow its greater European policy to our disadvantage. I think we need to step back, make wider alliances and create our own nuclear deterrent.
We need to forget our former power. WW2 is ancient history. Post Suez we are at the most a regional power in Europe. The immediate people wanting our resources are our European “neighbours”, not Russia or China. Germany is rearming. The EU block is obviously losing its bet on getting Russian assets, is bankrupting itself and deindustrialising, yet still wants regional dominance.
I think our medium term external threat comes from the EU (ie. France and Germany aligned), and the stranglehold the US has on our nuclear deterrent.
In terms of a navy we want a force that can cut traffic to Europe (much as the Iranians have blocked the straight of Hormuz). For that we don’t need a fleet of big, vulnerable surface ships or the capability to transport ground forces we simply don’t have.
As for our far-flung territories, we had better use diplomacy and trade to defend them. Any determined nation with a few good missiles can defeat anyone these days. Look at the Huthis – they made the US cut and run.
In the end diplomacy is better than war, we ought to remember that.
March 14, 2026
The EU Security & Defence Partnership (2025) seemingly has been created to supplant NATO and the 5 Eyes cooperation. The drum beat echoed from Parliament and its Government it is this agreement above all that will protect the UK.
Protect the UK’s Worldwide supply chain? Not forgetting it is the UK Parliament that cancelled our industrial base, cancelled our own energy supplies. They ‘made’, no forced the UK to be the recipient of everything it needs to survive. This UK Parliament is forcing the UK to become a 3rd World dependant Nation on the back of their political ideology and ego.
This UK Parliament has maliciously cancelled their first rule, their prime purpose, the safety and security of its people.
Who thought 5 year terms were a sane option? The removal of basic democracy has allowed the enemies of the nation free rein to destroy it.
March 14, 2026
I’m too depressed and embarrassed for our country to comment, except to note that I have never seen a government policy to unravel so far as Starmer’s proposed give away of the Chagos Islands, now supported by Russia as “decolonisation”.
March 15, 2026
Of course there is much more involvement with AI and drones in today’s security.
March 15, 2026
Good morning.
But JR, did you not get the latest memo ? The MoD now stands for the, Ministry of Diversity. It is more important now that we have a balanced gender, race and LGTBQRS + +1 community. Of course I am being my usual sarcastic self but there is, as I am sure you know, more than a grain of truth in that.
I am given to understand that the MoD, the defence on not the diversity, is headed by a civilian Civil Serpent. This is why we are more interested in making sure that our ships run on carbon neutral fuel (no I am not making this one up) and proudly boasting such, or the RAF not wanting straight white males as fighter pilots. ie The MoD is not being run as a department of defence but as a sort of university common room / ideology chamber.
What trade ? We don’t make anything ! All we will be doing is putting service men’s lives at risk so people can have their Chinese tat.
March 15, 2026
Myself think there as been some back room dealings with the EU to sliver back into there club and start a EU forces, why else would liebour be giving the USA the run around, this bunch of Westminster sitting muppets won’t be satisfied till the EU hold the reins to this country because it’s bloody obvious to the public they are not fit to be in power