You could call it denial, though Cameron and Fox have both hinted that a SDR could result in an increase, though I doubt it somehow. However the current political spat is like Gold dust pre election and if spun right by the Admirals could re focus minds. Dont forget the Falklands was Maggies war, the darling Grandee to many in the Tory party,the thought of those devious Argentines angling for the islands could well shape the SDR. Add Hagues mention of global raiding as opposed to regime change and there could be a good chance that the Navy comes out less beaten up than it would a while back. The question of whether we could re fight the Falklands has always been cast as an irrelevance by the other services, that could change now. Also the need to regularly patrol in S.Atlantic seas could cause a minor rejig to the type of ships we order over the next few decades, if there is a massive expansion of oil facilities down there.
There are programes that could be cut. Buy off the shelf C17 vs the risk to UK wing manufacturing capacity if we scraped the cost spiralling A400M? A 6 Trident per boat deterrent on 3 boats if viable? a quicker drawdown of forces in Cyprus (at the cost of a loss of a staging post)?
The economy will pick up, both major parties are targetting 2014 as the year to get debt under semi control, the situation in Afghanistan may be very different then, we can just hope the Argentines keep the subject alive and the Navy gets PR act together.
