How Britain’s military has shrunk since the Falklands, in numbers

Ed Arnold, a research fellow in European security at the Rusi think tank, argues that areas which Britain has deprioritised in recent decades, such as the UK’s air defence and protection of critical infrastructure, could suddenly require a rapid process of catch-up in the UK’s defence capabilities. He said: “I think there needs to be an understanding in society, among the electorate, that you can’t do this stuff on the cheap. What we are talking about is defence and deterrence for the UK and that is why defence spending needs to increase.” Just what to spend it on is, he and others acknowledge, a different question.