by Defence Secretary Liam Fox has warned the prime minister that “draconian” spending cuts in the defence budget would result in “grave consequences” for Defence Secretary Liam Fox.
Fox told coalition insiders that he is already quite frightened about going to work each day to tell senior soldiers that there is no more money to spend, without having to tell them there was even less than he’d already led them to believe.
He confided in one party source, telling them, “Have you ever informed an angry solider that he can’t have more money to buy the stuff that would protect him from all the lunatics you’ve asked him to go and fight? No?”
“It’s not an easy conversation to have, trust me. I prefer to do it over the phone to be honest, because in person the conversation ends with a telling stare and I invariably end up writing a personal cheque.”
Defence cuts
Experts have suggested that further cuts could have a significant effect on Liam Fox, with suggestions that his conversations with senior military figures could be ‘brutal’ should the cuts go ahead as planned.
A coalition insider explained, “These are not ordinary soliders he will be facing, these are Generals. These are not just people who’ve been trained to kill, they’re people with an excellent track record in doing just that.”
“He ‘might’ have also suggested he has a bit of pull with the prime minister when trying to ingratiate himself with the defence personnel. I said ‘might’.”
“If the suggested cuts are implemented, I genuinely fear for Liam Fox and his ability to make it appear like his job means anything whatsoever.”
