Politicians tend to fall into four categories. There are some who will speak about anything, the “rent-a-quote” types for whom nothing is off limits.
In the second group are those who make considered judgements on specific issues, while there are others who will readily give briefings but won’t put their name to a quote.
Finally, there are those who always keep their counsel, and seldom speak out publicly; any interventions are made behind closed doors.
Until today, George Robertson, Labour’s former defence secretary and an ex-secretary general of Nato, fell firmly into that last category.
He is a man of enormous political integrity, and commands huge respect, partly because he uses his wealth of knowledge to make his critical interventions, to leaders like Keir Starmer, largely in private.
His loyalty to the Labour Party was certainly tested during the Corbyn years, but no one has ever doubted his commitment to the party.
So the fact that this Labour grandee’s frustration has reached the point where he finally feels the need to speak out publicly, and in such a damning way, will have set alarm bells ringing in Downing Street and throughout government.
Robertson has clearly reached peak anger on the issue, as the world descends into multiple conflicts and the UK appears powerless and ill-equipped to respond to them.
The debacle around sending a warship to defend Britain’s bases in Cyprus as they were under bombardment from Iran was perhaps the tipping point.
As HMS Dragon waited in Portsmouth to be refitted, and there were doubts about another ship sailing because it had still not received an upgrade to make it suitable to operate in warm waters, both the Greeks and the French were able to send ships to protect the Mediterranean island and UK bases.
Robertson’s thesis cuts to the heart of the matter, though. The UK is spending vast sums of money essentially keeping people at home on welfare, while being parsimonious about defence spending.
No 10’s claims of increases in spending are actually not true on the front line, where the military services are making in-year cuts because the Treasury refused to fund the pay rise given to military personnel.
But in the end, what this is about is exposing the sheer paralysis of the Starmer government.
Since the humiliation of the welfare rebellion last summer, Starmer has been unable to get any major change through. He is certainly not able to significantly reduce welfare spending to fund the extra expenditure on defence that is required.
With his future as prime minister persistently in doubt, and little political authority to rely on, inaction has become the only course of action open to him. That sometimes works out well, as we saw in his decision not to join in the bombing of Iran, but generally it leaves his government – and the country – adrift.
This is why the Defence Investment Plan has been sitting on his desk for so long. The PM does not have the clout or the gumption to adjudicate between the Treasury and the Ministry of Defence.
Without that plan, the UK cannot move forward on rearming and preparing for a turbulent and increasingly volatile world.
This is why it is now, of all times, that the consummate loyalist Robertson has chosen to speak out. The rarity of his intervention makes the impact all the more stinging for a government that has lost its way.
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