National Security Begins at Home

Cutting welfare to fund defence is a false choice. National resilience depends upon citizens who believe their country offers security, opportunity, dignity and hope still.

A question often attributed to Winston Churchill has survived long after historians concluded he probably never said it.

Asked to cut funding for arts and culture during wartime, Churchill supposedly replied: "Then what are we fighting for?"

Authentic or not, the question exposes the flaw at the centre of today's debate over defence spending. Britain unquestionably needs credible armed forces. But if the price of military strength is a poorer, more insecure and more divided society, then the country must confront an uncomfortable question of its own.

What exactly are we defending?

The first question being asked of any incoming Prime Minister confronting a deteriorating security environment is simple. Where will the money come from. It is a fair question. It is a necessary question. It is also a question that exposes the moral and strategic bankruptcy of a political class that repeatedly reaches for the same answer. Cut welfare. Cut social support. Cut the already fraying protections tha…