A not so rapid reaction force
The Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2015 has come at a very busy time for David Cameron and George Osborne. Published in the wake of the deadliest attack on Paris since the Second World War, immediately before the Autumn Statement and in the same week as the PM tries to convince Parliament to vote for military action in Syria, it would be safe to say the government wants to move on from the SDSR as quickly as possible.
In the 2010 SDSR spending was cut by 8%, and jobs as well as plans for planes and ships were axed. The sight of unfinished nimrod spyplanes being broken up for scrap was seen as an embarrassment for the coalition government, and this latest iteration of the SDSR has tried to reverse that poor image.
Around £178 billion worth of spending over the next ten years will be spent on replacing equipment that was axed in the last review – “replaced with knobs on” as the BBC put it. Part of Cameron’s new 50,000-man expeditionary force will consist of two 5,000 strong ‘Strike Brigades’, which according to the PM will be “fully equipped to deploy rapidly and sustain themselves in the field”. The irony of the slight time delay on this increase was not lost on Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, who stated that “only this government could create a ‘rapid reaction force’ and will take 10 years to react”.
False sense of security?
It was always going to be an uphill battle for the Chancellor; finding £20bn worth of cuts to public spending, with departmental budgets that are already straightjacketed. Indeed, in the run up to his big announcement the rumour mill had been working overtime, churning out reports of the “deepest cuts in history”.
This particular narrative proved beneficial to Osborne, however; prepare people for the worst and then deliver something just a little better. He began by promising to put security first, on both an economic and national level. Osborne announced that according to the OBR, Public finances over the next five years are looking £27bn better than they had done in July. As a result, the Government can borrow £8bn less over this parliament.
The Chancellor also managed to slip in a few surprises, notably his complete U-turn on proposed plans to cut tax-credits. This is unlikely to be of much consolation to the poorest in society, whoever, who will still bear the brunt of the £12bn of cuts to welfare.
Arguably his biggest win of the afternoon was given to him on a plate by the Shadow Chancellor. In his response to Osborne’s statement, John McDonnell quoted Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book and ceremoniously threw the book across the table at the Chancellor; to which he replied “Oh look! It’s his personal signed copy”.
Borders? What borders?
The Tories may wish to be seen as a party tough on immigration, but recent statistics suggest otherwise as net migration reached a record high of 336,000 in the year to June. The figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show a jump of 82,000 compared to June 2014.
According to statisticians, the rise was due to a ‘statistically significant’ increase in the number of people arriving in the UK. Immigration currently stands at 636,000, which is 62,000 higher than the same period last year. Jay Lindop, head of population statistics at the ONS, said: “Today’s figures show that annual net migration is at a similar level to that reported last quarter and remains the highest on record.”
Unsurprisingly, UKIP has said that the figures are an argument in favour of voting for Britain to leave the EU in the referendum promised by 2017, whilst Immigration Minister James Brokenshire admitted the figures “underline the challenge we face to reduce net migration to sustainable levels".
Some have speculated that if the Tories can’t bring immigration levels down then the issue could prove to be their passport to the opposition benches.
McGarry’s Scot to go
The SNP MP Natalie McGarry has been caught up in a probe following concerns raised by Women for Independence. The group, an independence campaign fund, was investigated by the police over what have been described as ‘discrepancies’ in their financial accounts.
According to the Daily Record, McGarry “was responsible for looking after their [Women for Independence] finances in the early days”. But after tens of thousands of pounds went unaccounted for, McGarry’s lawyer was forced to confirm that she would co-operate with a police probe.
The Glasgow East MP has now resigned the party’s whip, saying it is "in the best interests of the party", but she maintains that she has done "nothing wrong". She becomes the second of the 2015 intake to resign from the SNP.
It seems as if the SNP is somewhat being thrown off kilt-er at the moment.