There is an old political maxim that to govern is to choose. Within inevitable budgetary limitations, the spending choices of ministers should be dictated by the national interest, not partisan or electoral considerations. This is especially so where the defence of the realm is at stake,http://users.atw.hu/probdesign/index.php?site=forum_topic&topic=13850cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, since the first duty of government is to ensure the security of the nation’s borders and its citizens.


Seven years ago, the Coalition embarked on a security and defence review that was almost entirely Treasury-driven and owed little to the strategic needs of the country. The aim was to save money by cutting the military and diverting any savings to other programmes. We argued then that this was short-sighted,Kicksokok.com, almost a dereliction of duty. Yet the same process is under way once again.


Defence chiefs are alarmed at proposals to reduce the Army still further from its current full-time strength, the lowest since Waterloo. There is also a proposal to pare back the Royal Ma...sell off amphibious ships. One junior defence minister, Tobias Ellwood,http://mylovesong.me/user/blogs/view/name_kcikskkoo/id_207385/title_cheap-retro-jordans-Online-Store-KicksOkok/cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, a former regular soldier,cheap jordans free shipping, has threatened to quit if the cuts go through. Recently-retired senior officers told the Commons defence select committee earlier this month that the Armed Forces are at breaking point and could not withstand another budget shock. They said the Army is 20 years out of date,cheap jordans, the navy underfunded and the RAF at the edge of its engineering capacity.


There is always an element of special pleading when it comes to spending in any area, not least on the military. But the choices of successive governments to scrimp on defence while substantially increasing other budgets,cheap jordans online, such as foreign aid – even if it does have a soft power rationale – are no longer sustainable,cheap wholesale jordans, if they ever were. Sir Michael Fallon,cheap jordans for sale, until recently Defence Secretary,http://forum.cacaoweb.org/index.php/topic,3480301.msg4401595.html#msg4401595cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg,cheap air jordans, is intending to speak out now he is no longer bound by the constraints of office, including on whether the UK’s NATO commitment to spend two per cent of national wealth on defence is sufficient given the nature of the threats.


Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary and a former Defence Secretary,cheap jordan shoes, on Sunday hinted that a compromise could be reached before the Whitehall review concludes at the end of the year. But that suggests the military may still have to accept some serious cuts that could jeopardise their operational capabilities still further. Given the choice, that is not an option that any Conservative government should take.





The Prince, a fervent supporter of action on climate change, said the deterioration of "nature's capital reserves" like water and soils can cause direct impacts on food and energy security.
"We each have a sacred duty of care towards the Earth," he said. "It calls upon us to shoulder this work together."
The speech follows similar comments by the Archbishop of Canterbury who last week warned that bankers are ignoring what is morally right because they are focusing solely on whether practices are within the law.
Speaking to business leaders last week the Most Rev Justin said City investors had become focused on a "number on a screen" instead of considering the impact of their decisions on workers.
Failure to manage Earth's natural resources was a major hidden contributor to the Syrian crisis, the Prince added.
"The tragic conflict in Syria provides a terrifyingly graphic example, where a severe drought for the last seven years has decimated Syria's rural economy," he said. "Driving many farmers off their fields and into cities where, already, food was in short supply.
"This depletion of natural capital, inexplicably, little reported in the media, was a significant contributor to the social tension that exploded with such desperate results."
He said Islamic banking, or alternative banking, could provide the answers where conventional" banking could not, given Islam's emphasis on the "moral economy".
The Prince said there was a welcome emphasis in Islamic finance that wider ethical and moral codes could not be separated from business.
Several major Islamic world leaders are attending the two-day event, including King Abdullah of Jordan, the Sultan of Brunei and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
The Prince met delegates before taking to the lectern and while much of the discussion was on congratulating Charles on the arrival of his grandson Prince George, it primarily focused on the desire to forge business links in the UK.
Prime Minister David Cameron earlier announced the UK hoped to offer a ?200 million Islam-friendly bond as early as next year.
Mr Cameron said he wanted London to be "the greatest centre for Islamic finance in the Western world".
The event will hear from London Mayor Boris Johnson today.