Since the Second World War, each conflict our Armed Forces have been asked to fight has been radically different from the previous one, with each needing the military capability our political leaders had said was no longer required.

How different would Britain be today if we had been unable to liberate the Falklands Islands in 1982? The Conservative Party would undoubtedly have been defeated at the following election and the transformation of Britain that took place over the rest of that decade would at best have been substantially postponed, at worst not happened at all.

The primary duty of government is defence of the nation, yet for far too long governments have taken the professionalism of our Armed Forces for granted – and run them into the ground. It cannot be long before inadequate British forces suffer a military defeat. The negative effect on our national psyche and standing in the world would be incalculable.

While we support the Coalition government's commitment to reduce the size of the state, the place to start is not with our front-line defences but with the other areas of the bloated public sector.

Mark Allatt
General Secretary
Conservative Way Forward
London SW1