Defence Review
Always when money is tight, there are politicians who call for big ticket items like Trident or new ships like the aircraft carriers to be scrapped. They need to be careful.
First cancelling the two new aircraft carriers now would cost more than completing them and would put thousands on the dole. More money, more misery but no ships. However I agree that that global projection as a mini superpower is out of date and counter productive. I would look at altering the role of these vessels to a defensive ( aircraft carriers like tanks and bombers are essentially offencive weapons, but are used in defence) function such as anti missile defence of our islands with the very latest seek and destroy anti missile weapons such as rockets and cyber jamming. Or thay could be equipped as huge humanitarian aid platforms with disaster relief and medical facilities, helicopters and so on. That would cost but under a UN flag we could become a humanitarian mini super-power.
The other issue is the Trident submarine force. Once built this is a very cheap method of ensuring absolute security through deterrence. Without it we would need much bigger forces, more ships and planes and a whole lot more weapons systems to keep our country safe from the unpredictable and emerging threats of the twenty-first century.
If we cut our global projection and invasion capability, apply resources to the point where they will most effectively offer us security in our country and kick out the buffoons in the procurement Department of the Ministry of Defence who can neither plan, nor procure, nor work out what they are ordering, nor even add up, we shall make all the savings we need.