Lord Ashcroft’s new book – White Flag? An Examination of the UK’s Defence Capability – will be published on October 2 and can be pre-ordered now.
The book, co-written with political journalist Isabel Oakeshott and published by Biteback Publishing, will examine the state of the UK’s armed forces after years of cuts. It will assess whether they are ready to deal with coming threats and the possibility that this country may be drawn into military conflict which is not at a time and place of our choosing. It will also explore the politics of defence.
After the pain of Iraq and Afghanistan, it is hard to imagine the UK at war again. Defence chiefs fear it is a growing risk, but they have struggled to persuade most politicians to take them seriously. Our leaders have concluded there are no votes in defence and have progressively run down the armed forces.
Today, the army is at its smallest since the Napoleonic Wars; the RAF is less than half its size of twenty-five years ago, and the Royal Navy will struggle to muster the ships and weapons required to protect our new aircraft carriers.
Is there really a risk of war? Is our military less capable and what could that mean for our future? White Flag? explains what has happened to our armed forces in recent years and asks whether their decline endangers our safety and prosperity.
The Foreword has been written by General Sir Mike Jackson, the former Chief of the General Staff. The new book has received glowing endorsements from several senior military figures and politicians.
Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC is an international businessman, philanthropist, author and pollster. He was deputy chairman of the Conservative Party in the UK from 2005 to 2010, having previously been the party’s treasurer. Since 2010, he has published the results of his extensive polling on LordAshcroftPolls.com.
In 2012, Lord Ashcroft was appointed to the Privy Council and was made the government’s special representative for veterans’ transition, helping military veterans to make the transition back to civilian life. He stepped down from his veterans’ transition role in 2018. Lord Ashcroft is also founder and chairman of the board of trustees of Crimestoppers, chairman of the trustees of Ashcroft Technology Academy and chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University.
Isabel Oakeshott is an award-winning political journalist and commentator. She was political editor of the Sunday Times and co-wrote Call Me Dave with Lord Ashcroft, Farmageddon with Philip Lymbery and Inside Out with Peter Watt.
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