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Terrorism, cyber attacks to top UK security issues
Source: Agencies |
October 18, 2010, Monday
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TERRORISM and cyber attacks are expected to take precedence over nuclear proliferation and the breakdown of weak states when the British government reveals its strategy for national security today.
The government hopes its National Security Strategy will help convince critics that a broad military review due out tomorrow is based on strategic thinking, not just on the need to save money.
But a parliamentary watchdog, in a scathing report yesterday, joined a chorus of critics who say the military review, the first since 1998, has been rushed and is aimed more at reducing the record budget deficit than meeting future threats.
The government is trying to slash a budget deficit of nearly 11 percent of national output while keeping Britain a strong military power in Europe and a capable ally of the United States, which it has backed in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee said in its report that, given the size of expected spending cuts, it doubted "whether the government has the capacity to deliver a (review) which is any way strategic."
Negotiations between the Defense Ministry and the Treasury have resulted in cuts of less than 10 percent over four years in a defense budget of 36.9 billion pounds (US$59 billion).
This is well below cuts averaging 25 percent expected in most departments' budgets, but will still lead to reductions, delays or cancellation of major hardware orders.
The National Security Strategy is expected to be a broad review of the threats Britain faces, and will be used to explain the principles underpinning the Strategic Defense and Security Review of the armed forces to be unveiled a day later.
The threat of nuclear proliferation and the breakdown of fragile states are likely to be mentioned, but the foreign minister and analysts have pointed to a focus on terrorism and cyberattacks, perhaps to justify cuts in orders for heavy equipment more suited to conventional warfare.
The cuts in defense spending could have a deep impact on industry in Britain, where some regions depend on defense contracts, as well as political and diplomatic consequences.
The Conservative Party, which heads the ruling coalition, is traditionally seen as pro-military, and arguments over defense cuts have exposed rifts within its ranks.
Last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US Defense Secretary Robert Gates voiced concern that defense cuts by NATO members might go too far, sapping their military strength. Members of the military alliance must spend at least 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense.
The public administration committee noted foreign ministry denials of any "strategic shrinkage" but said it was "impossible to conceive of any strategic rationale that could reconcile this with the widely canvassed possibility of substantial cuts in defense capability, as defense spending declines below two percent of GDP."
The government hopes its National Security Strategy will help convince critics that a broad military review due out tomorrow is based on strategic thinking, not just on the need to save money.
But a parliamentary watchdog, in a scathing report yesterday, joined a chorus of critics who say the military review, the first since 1998, has been rushed and is aimed more at reducing the record budget deficit than meeting future threats.
The government is trying to slash a budget deficit of nearly 11 percent of national output while keeping Britain a strong military power in Europe and a capable ally of the United States, which it has backed in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee said in its report that, given the size of expected spending cuts, it doubted "whether the government has the capacity to deliver a (review) which is any way strategic."
Negotiations between the Defense Ministry and the Treasury have resulted in cuts of less than 10 percent over four years in a defense budget of 36.9 billion pounds (US$59 billion).
This is well below cuts averaging 25 percent expected in most departments' budgets, but will still lead to reductions, delays or cancellation of major hardware orders.
The National Security Strategy is expected to be a broad review of the threats Britain faces, and will be used to explain the principles underpinning the Strategic Defense and Security Review of the armed forces to be unveiled a day later.
The threat of nuclear proliferation and the breakdown of fragile states are likely to be mentioned, but the foreign minister and analysts have pointed to a focus on terrorism and cyberattacks, perhaps to justify cuts in orders for heavy equipment more suited to conventional warfare.
The cuts in defense spending could have a deep impact on industry in Britain, where some regions depend on defense contracts, as well as political and diplomatic consequences.
The Conservative Party, which heads the ruling coalition, is traditionally seen as pro-military, and arguments over defense cuts have exposed rifts within its ranks.
Last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US Defense Secretary Robert Gates voiced concern that defense cuts by NATO members might go too far, sapping their military strength. Members of the military alliance must spend at least 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense.
The public administration committee noted foreign ministry denials of any "strategic shrinkage" but said it was "impossible to conceive of any strategic rationale that could reconcile this with the widely canvassed possibility of substantial cuts in defense capability, as defense spending declines below two percent of GDP."
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