Hearts have to accept lower-tier membership of the international community Yet Britain remains a global player. We are, for the most part, a diligent and responsible member of the international community This is a less stirring, less vivid thing than empire. But is a better thing and, even when the flags come down in distant parts and there are tugs in British hearts, none of us now thinks otherwise.. Sir: I was astonished to find myself reported in your columns (report, 26 June, first edition) as a former defence minister who had “rejected” the MoD’s plans for the sale of the married quarters estate to the private sector
The truth is the exact opposite.
While Minister of State for Defence from 1992-94 I strongly championed the scheme which has since been refined, safeguarded, and improved by Michael Portillo. The sad fact of this matter is that the management of Service housing has been poor for many years.
The status quo is virtually indefensible because of the unacceptably high number of empty houses, houses in poor condition, and dissatisfied occupants complaining of inadequate maintenance and service.The Portillo plan benefits both taxpayers and Service families. The latter will gain because pounds 100 million from the sale proceeds will be spent on upgrading married quarters. The result will be that the living conditions of most Service houses will be raised to Grade One standard within about five years, an achievement which would be unattainable without the sale.So far as the wider defence interest is concerned, it is important to emphasise that cohesive Service communities will be preserved and that a Ministerial veto is being retained to prevent the sale of any properties which might impair operational effectiveness. The character part which Britain took in the drama of the Cold War gave reassurance, but even that has gone now.It is not as if we have not had time to inure ourselves to reduced circumstances Kipling saw the writing on the wall in 1897. “Lo, all our pomp of yesterday/ Is one with Nineveh and Tyre,” he wrote in Recessional.
Meanwhile, the British state and its representation to the wider world has been confused. Dean Acheson famously remarked that Britain had lost an empire but not yet found a role. Nobody thanked him for saying it in 1962, yet it remains a truism of foreign policy in 1996. Britain has never quite been at ease with itself in the world since – or should that read “England”? Perhaps the end of empire has yet fully to register inside the United Kingdom; perhaps the settlement of empire entails settling relations between England and the other countries. In just 50 years, we have left it all behind us, and the very ease (some would say indecent haste) with which we packed our bags meant we have thought about it all the less.But there are consequences.
