The public is entitled to expect that the Government would already have done the hard yards of reaching interim conclusions from all the information available to it, and would have included those conclusions in the matters on which it is consulted. The Government could then take community views into account in settling its final views in a published white paper. And there is no choice that we are likely to want to make that would be beyond the ability of the world's 13th largest economy to afford. It is a question of political leadership, political responsibility and political will. In principle, the choices which face us are simple.
Defence is expensive and growing more so by the year.
If we want to spend the same amount on defence as we have in the recent past, we will have to accept substantially reduced capability and the permanent loss of key military skills. If we want to maintain roughly the same level of capability, then we will need to see significant growth in the defence budget. If we want to do what we need to do, we will have to spend a great deal more. And the latter is the only choice to make. The world in which we live is an uncertain place, and becoming more so.