The Chancellor's Budget statement means the armed forces will wait at least another year for proper funding, until the spending review in 2027, according to Nigel Szembel, a lifelong military man and executive producer of the film Hurricane.
Szembel writes that the decade-long failure to properly fund the armed forces continues, halting the guarded optimism that followed comments two weeks ago from General Sir Roky Walker, Chief of the General Staff, who reportedly told his troops that political leaders would soon have a "frank conversation" with ordinary citizens.
Public told to stock up, not prepare for war
The frank conversation amounted to advice to stock up on Spam, bottled water and wind-up radios, due to possible disruption from climate change, cyber-attack, the US/Iran conflict, and possible Russian meddling. Szembel suggests the Government may believe the public could not deal with the word "war".
The Prime Minister continues to talk about matters other than defence, and top political leadership on defence is still absent. Verbal commitments to increase defence expenditure and speeches at international meetings are pointless, Szembel argues, unless backed up by explaining how the country will get there and what that means for the people.
Military leaders speak plainly
Retired military officers have made the case for the military, and serving senior officers have been unusually blunt. Former Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin and his successor Sir Richard Knighton have spoken plainly, as has General Sir Partick Saunders, who warned of the need to mobilise society, a call the Government re-framed as conscription. Lord Robertson called for an honest national conversation about the threats facing Britain, but the response from the top of government was silence.
In the dying weeks of the Starmer government, two ministers resigned on principle over the lack of defence investment. One is now the Chancellor, who today has not delivered the goods he said were vital. Healey told Parliament today that his son, a member of the British Army Reserve, told him four years ago "there was no kit and no bullets to fire".
Lessons from the 1930s
Szembel draws parallels with the 1930s, when cinema was a main social activity and films embedded the rules of how to behave in a crisis. The film Darkest Hour portrays Churchill finding resolve among ordinary Londoners on the Tube, a scene that may never have taken place but shows a population prepared for war and ahead of the Government.
Filmmakers of the era included emigres from Europe who saw the coming storm, such as Sir Alexander Korda, Conrad Veidt, Leslie Howard and Michael Balcon. Today, Szembel notes, there is no single mass media and no national sense of common identity, making it unclear how a common purpose will be found.
He concludes that the Prime Minister should give the facts and tell the truth, treating the people as grown-ups. He suggests watching the films our grandparents watched on streaming services as a good place to start.
