You have to understand the mindset of right wing politicians in the UK. They aren't like the US Right wing at all, despite superficial similarities. They are 110% about tax cuts for themselves and their rich friends, always have been and always will be, They only spend when they know they can't get away with it. The NHS and the welfare state are 'sacred cows' to all parties to varying degrees (read: Votes!), so major cuts have to fall elsewhere. Since nobody in Parliament has ever served in the armed forces nor do they have relatives serving as a rule, so there is little real appreciation or respect for the said armed forces.
There has been a political culture since the end of WW2 that Defence is a cash cow to be raided when the Government inevitably fail to balance the books, and 'salami slicing' happens almost annually. The Salami is just too small after seven decades, and there was faint hope this lesson had sunk in during the last couple of years, with talk of rebuilding the numbers in the frigate fleet via the 'low cost' Type 31, but this appears to have evaporated at the first sign of financial trouble. The pattern is unmistakeable, every defence review for decades has lead to the axing of four or five escorts prematurely, the amphibious forces and the Royal Marines are always in line for the axe (mostly at the suggestion of the army, who appear to only care about retaining historic cap badges.
Add to that the process usually involves playing the three services off against each other (eg in the sixties the RAF conspired to get the RNs carriers axed to preserve their own strike capability. They've since suffered major cuts themselves). There is evidence the services are learning from all this, the joint force Harrier/Lightning concept and tying the RAF's future strike potential to the Carrier force has safeguarded them to a degree, but leaves the rest of the fleet at risk. Now talk of axing up to five frigates or scrapping the amphibious capability is being circulated deliberately to gain public attention and stop the Government from implementing their worst ideas. Fingers crossed.
There has been a political culture since the end of WW2 that Defence is a cash cow to be raided when the Government inevitably fail to balance the books, and 'salami slicing' happens almost annually. The Salami is just too small after seven decades, and there was faint hope this lesson had sunk in during the last couple of years, with talk of rebuilding the numbers in the frigate fleet via the 'low cost' Type 31, but this appears to have evaporated at the first sign of financial trouble. The pattern is unmistakeable, every defence review for decades has lead to the axing of four or five escorts prematurely, the amphibious forces and the Royal Marines are always in line for the axe (mostly at the suggestion of the army, who appear to only care about retaining historic cap badges.
Add to that the process usually involves playing the three services off against each other (eg in the sixties the RAF conspired to get the RNs carriers axed to preserve their own strike capability. They've since suffered major cuts themselves). There is evidence the services are learning from all this, the joint force Harrier/Lightning concept and tying the RAF's future strike potential to the Carrier force has safeguarded them to a degree, but leaves the rest of the fleet at risk. Now talk of axing up to five frigates or scrapping the amphibious capability is being circulated deliberately to gain public attention and stop the Government from implementing their worst ideas. Fingers crossed.
