I am delighted that the Chancellor has managed to find the money for defence in this budget. It will mean hard choices elsewhere. But the fact that George Osborne will commit defence spending to make sure that it stays at 2 per cent of GDP until 2020 is good news and allows the armed forces to plan for the future.
I know our armed forces will be pleased that the Chancellor has delivered, because making this commitment has not been easy - I think everyone understands that. The decision has also been welcomed across NATO. But other countries need to do some heavy lifting now as well, as the threats we face are not isolated to a single location and a single issue, but varied and cross border, whether they be Isis, terror attacks, peacekeeping or the wider threat of Putin and others.
General Dannatt's piece in Wednesdays Telegraph is one of the best analysis of the situation:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/11727483/George-Osbornes-2-per-cent-defence-target-sends-a-strong-message-to-our-foes.html
