Defence Cuts: The Death Knell of a Nation?

So, the news is full of it, we're being softened up for big cuts in the defence budget.

The defence review will be interesting, not for what it contains, but for the future direction it takes our forces.

This really is the end of Britain as an independant sovereign state. Its already widely known that at least one of "our" new aircraft carriers will actually be shared with the French. Its widely rumoured that we'll drasticlally reduce, or cut altogether our options for the Joint Strike Fighter, a primarily U.S. project.

So, where does that leave us? Well, right towards being an echelon of an E.U. armed service.

If our carriers are shared with the French, and we're pulling out of our biggest non-EU defence projects, one can only assume that our conventional forces at least, will begin to be equipped with E.U. standard equipment and be merged into an E.U. force.

Currently our nuclear deterrent is another joint U.S. project. I've long said that Trident's replacement needs to be something cheaper, but whats the betting that any future review opens the way to a joint E.U. nuclear capability? What of our "special relationship" with the U.S. then, I wonder?

I'm sure the spin will say it's all in the interests of saving costs, but for me, alarm bells are already ringing. This is another part of the slippery slope to a European super-state.

It won't be long before we are unable to commit British troops in defence of British interests.

Of course the Falklands will be safe from the Argentinians: I'm sure the huge Spanish fishing fleets are looking at those teeming waters with delight. After all, the Falklands aren't "British" anyway. All our sovereignty has been passed to the E.U. The Falklands are, for all intents and purposes, owned by the E.U. If they tell us we have to share the waters and let E.U. trawlers fish them, our government can't refuse.