Jason Ford

Last week's poll: UK defence spending

News

With DSEI imminent and a strategic defence and security review due by the end of the year, where should the MoD prioritise its budget?

  • Unmanned systems. Recent events in Syria highlight the importance of UAVs in overcoming threats from abroad
  • Top of FormCyber security. The hacker’s ability to undermine vital assets via cyber attacks must be undermined
  • Specialist combat teams. Land and sea battles appear consigned to history so smaller, elite groups of combatants should be trained and equipped for future conflicts
  • Nuclear weapons. A deterrent must be maintained to prevent the outbreak of war amongst super powers
  • All of the above
  • None of the above

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We received a strong response on this poll, with 542 readers giving us their opinions on options for the defence of the realm. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the largest group, 40 per cent, though we should spend on all of the options suggested; somewhat more surprisingly, 25 per cent thought we should spend on none of them. Of those who picked a single option, 14 per cent thought that specialist combat teams should be prioritised, while 13 per cent thought combating cyber security threats was the most important priority. Seven per cent wanted unmanned systems to be the focus of investment, while — in a surprise considering the results of our recent Trident poll — only 1 per cent thought that nuclear weapons should be a spending priority.


Please continue to end us your opinions on this poll.