The Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), due to be published later today, is covered prominently by all media outlets. It is widely reported that Prime Minister David Cameron will announce extra spending on equipment, including a range of aircraft, and the establishment of rapid reaction brigades.
STRATEGIC DEFENCE AND SECURITY REVIEW
In an article included in the Telegraph, the Prime Minister writes about the SDSR and says the UK will defeat terrorism and the poisonous ideology that fuels it.
Speaking about the review on BBC 4’s Today Programme this morning, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said:
We have a strong economy and we've made a decision as a Government to spend more on things like defence and less on welfare, but the other big change since five years ago, of course, is the threats have multiplied. This is now, sadly, a more dangerous world. We didn’t five years ago predict the resurgence of Russia and what it did in Crimea and Ukraine. We certainly didn’t predict the rise of ISIL or the extent to which Government can be attacked by cyber, so these are new threats and we’re responding to them with an increase and better defence of our country.
On equipment, we’re spending some £12 billion more than we originally planned. That means more ships, more planes, more equipment for the Special Forces. The defence budget as a whole, for the first time in some years, is going to start increasing now from April and every year of this Parliament, we’ll be spending more money on keeping our country safe.
TERROR
It is widely reported – including in the Guardian, Mirror, Daily Telegraph, Sun, Independent, Daily Mail and Times – that Brussels faces an unprecedented security lockdown this week after Belgian authorities imposed safety-first measures to prevent a “serious and imminent” terrorist attack. The papers report that schools, universities and kindergartens will be shut on Monday and the metro will remain closed, as counter-terrorist forces intensify their search for a network of Islamist militants involved in the Paris attacks.
AIR STRIKES
According to the Financial Times and Guardian, the Prime Minister wants to win Parliamentary approval for RAF air strikes against ISIL targets in Syria next month. The newspapers write that Defence Secretary Michael Fallon is to brief opposition MPs on the case for attacking ISIL in Syria, while Mr Osborne said Britain cannot “wait for the civil war in Syria to end” before taking the fight to Syria.
Speaking on BBC News this morning, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said:
…we are building the case, especially with new MPs. There is no point striking ISIL from the side lines and not at its base. But we are a democracy and we are making our case. The coalition would like the skill of our pilots and the Brimstone missile which is very accurate. It makes no sense for our strike aircraft to turn back at a border that ISIL itself does not recognise.
RUSSIAN SUBMARINE
An article in the Daily Telegraph, claims that the hunt for a Russian submarine apparently off the Scottish coast has stepped up after French patrol planes were called in to help with the search.
The MOD position is as follows:
We can confirm that allied maritime patrol aircraft based at RAF Lossiemouth for a limited period are conducting activity with the Royal Navy. We do not discuss the detail of maritime operations.
CADET UNITS
Cadet units at girls’ private schools have doubled in a decade, according to the Daily Telegraph, as teachers turn to military exercises to help pupils deal with mental health issues. Combined Cadet Forces, sponsored by the Government and designed to promote leadership, have been in a handful of schools for more than a century, the newspaper says. However, according to the article, over the past 10 years many schools have realised that skills such as resilience help young girls grapple with issues around self harm and body image and more than a quarter of schools now run one.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Follow us on Twitter and don’t forget to sign up for email alerts.