Gordon Brown Launches Another Assault on Britain’s Defenses

Ted Bromund / April 29, 2009

Last week, British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling presented the budget for 2009-10. The news for Britain’s hard-pressed armed forces was grim. Labour’s record is already a terrible one. Under the guidance of Gordon Brown, first as Chancellor of the Exchequer and now as Prime Minister, the forces have been consistently starved of money and manpower. The most recent budget ensures that this lamentable failure will only become more glaring in the years to come.

For 2009-10, the budget of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) will rise by 850 million pounds, an increase of about 2.2 percent. Even on its own, that increase, after taking inflation into account, would amount to no more than holding the line. But that 850 million pound figure must also be judged against the cuts the Treasury has imposed, cuts that will collectively result in the MoD having less to spend in real terms in the coming year. (more…)