For Economic Policy to work, two things have to be right: the Economics, and the Policy. In an earlier post I said, “it’s not rocket science.”
Apparently I miss spoke.
For all the managerial competence that Rishi Sunak exuded when he competed against Liz Truss for the Premiership of our country, in Government he has proven himself always to be following events, rather than creating them…
There are a couple of key caveats that even the most ardent libertarians allow for as an activity of the State in the provision of Government – the first of which is defense of the Nation. By announcing a new plan for national conscription of all 18-year-olds, Sunak displays a bizarre magnetism towards both bad economics and bad policy. The economics is quite simple: this is additional government spending, for actually a disbenefit, rather than a benefit. It is throwing money out of the window, just because you like the patterns it makes in the wind… Prior of course, to he himself being thrown out of the window by the British public.
The stated policy for several decades of the UK Government in relation to defence was that we, as a country, should be able to mount two significant continental land-based wars at the same time. From our history as a colonial power it was implicitly understood that one of these wars may well be in the far East. The logistical support to a war on the other side of the world cannot easily be underestimated. The other hypothetical war was anticipated to be within the European land mass, and therefore supportable and sustainable. Currently we would struggle to deploy 5,000 soldiers in an operational capacity. This is fewer than the numbers currently defending the Kiev region alone.
National Conscription hobbles our already significantly hobbled military. Instead of autonomously being able to pursue two independent land wars simultaneously, there has been a subtle yet powerful shift towards being entirely dependent on NATO’s Article 5 regarding collective security. This, as an independent nuclear state, was never previously the UK’s position. It is a complete philosophical surrendering of our active leadership role, and an acceptance of the denudation of our military prowess. Moreover, it admits to a diminution of our status as a global power in world diplomacy.
Accruing additional debt, and diverting strained military resources, to facilitate 18-year-olds, “escaping their bubble”, is not what we elect a government to do on our behalf. Policy switches such as these appear to have come from a cosseted and privileged mindset that hasn’t had the wherewithal to test them, either with the military or the public. In doing so, I believe that Sunak has gifted Kier Starmer an additional two to three percentage point lead on his forthcoming defeat at the General Election.
#economics #politics #conscription #policy #rishisunak #military
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