Another veteran with the disease, Fred Minall, 74, a mechanical engineer in the Royal Navy between 1957 and 1965, commented: "It was heartening to hear the Prime Minister to say that he will look into the matter and hopefully his comments will encourage the Defence Minister and Service Chiefs to give this unjust and shameful situation urgent consideration".
And the unhinged accusations from one side only encouraged a defence that became increasingly, obdurately partisan on the other, a defence that also provided cover and an excuse to ignore saner critics of all persuasions.
General Sir David Richards, chief of the defence staff, welcomed that production – his own observations on Afghanistan were spoken on stage by an actor – and he encouraged soldiers, defence officials, and Sandhurst cadets, to go to the theatre to learn more about the country they were going to be sent to fight and to influence hearts and minds.
Nothing encourages a defence like being fitted up with fake evidence.
The Spaniard, animated on the touchline throughout, encouraged his defence to play short passes into midfield and was unconcerned afterwards that his side had not kept a clean sheet.
Regional instability and flush government budgets will also encourage growth in defence outlays in the Middle East.
Advocates of the policy say that Europe needs its own forces to encourage investment in defence and to take part in missions, such as peacekeeping in Africa, in which the United States does not want to become involved.On the ground, the EU and NATO have co-operated relatively well.
Many are already doing so, including the MoD, where only 28.4% of senior civil servants are women, but where senior staff are making efforts to encourage women into defence jobs, as well as wider science, technology, engineering and maths roles, through outreach activities at schools and STEM events.
He wants to encourage the departments of Defence and State to harmonise their organisational maps (the former treats Israel as part of Europe whereas the latter calls it part of the Near East).
