Military chiefs seek royal help
UK Defence chiefs and ministers are planning to enlist the support of the royal family to persuade Prime Minister Theresa May to give more money to the armed forces.
A plan drawn up to change the prime minister’s mind will see serving and retired officers lobby Prince Charles and Prince Harry in a bid to win the ‘‘moral support’’ of the Queen for Britain remaining a front rank military power.
A senior figure in the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said serving and retired generals and admirals will approach senior royals, including the Duke of Sussex who served in Afghanistan.
They believe the royal family could be influential in the campaign to win over May – although they recognise that the monarch is supposed to remain above politics.
There is even a plan to lobby the prime minister’s husband, Philip May, who has been identified as one of her most influential advisers.
Gavin Williamson, the defence secretary, and General Sir Nick Carter, chief of the defence staff, are due to see May this week to lobby for an annual cash boost of at least £2.5 billion ($NZ4.8b), which they believe is the minimum needed to maintain current capabilities.
Both have been staggered that May has questioned whether Britain should be a ‘‘tier one’’ military force, able to deploy the full spectrum of firepower. At the weekend, military, civil service and political sources in the MoD all expressed horror that the prime minister ‘‘does not get it’’ and has fallen under the influence of a mandarin who dislikes the armed forces.
They expressed incredulity that May does not value the military for maintaining the political and economic clout of post-Brexit Britain.
About 50 parliamentarians are pressing the government to give more money to the military and 10 have signalled a willingness to vote against the budget unless May backs down, a move that could topple the government.
‘‘The prime minister needs to recognise that our standing on the international stage is linked to our national identity, which is linked to our strong defence,’’ said a senior source.
‘‘The strategy has to be to get to people who have access to the PM. Ask yourself who has access and influence. Her husband is one, the Queen would be another.
‘‘There needs to be a drumbeat of logical, determined, passionate, measured voices that are making the case. I think you can get to the royal family through Prince Charles and you get to Harry too, who has recent frontline experience. That for me would be the interesting one.’’
The move is the latest in an extraordinary confrontation between No 10 and the MoD. Williamson has been accused of telling senior officers that he could bring down May, claiming: ‘‘I made her and I can break her.’’ His aides deny he used that form of words.
One MoD source said failure to fund the armed forces – at a time when Donald Trump, the US president, is agitating for Europe to spend more on its own defence – would leave May ‘‘an international laughing stock’’ and contribute to the collapse of the Nato alliance. –
‘‘I think you can get to the royal family through Prince Charles and you get to Harry too, who has recent frontline experience.’’