Wallace has done well to win an exceptional defence settlement, but it may not be enough to fund all the Integrated Review’s ambitions.
Perhaps the answer is bound up with China – and our inability to focus on more than a single problem at once.
As the great eye of the Conservative Party swivels its gaze towards the Far East, it’s in danger of missing other threats that are closer to home.
If Downing Street doesn’t grip the campaign against Patel by allies of her Permanent Secretary and others, it may spiral out of control.
During the years when the West sought to draw Iran back into the comity of nations, the ayatollahs backed terrorist bombs, cyberattacks, and drone shootings.
This year’s Security, Defence and Foreign Policy review provides an excellent opportunity to reinforce Britain’s place as a leader in this field.
He will remember Lady Hale and her swipe over “girly swots”. More pertinently, he will have in mind the court’s constitutionally illterate decision over prorogation.
Our nagging worry is: what about voters who may not want to get Brexit done, but are nonetheless apprehensive about Corbyn and John McDonnell’s tax plans?
Briefing that Johnson will “lock up terrorists and throw away the key” is taking the voters for fools.
Government and Parliament must limit judicial discretion in cases where there is a proven and ongoing risk to the public.
In 2017, they turned out, perhaps surprisingly, not to boost the cause of “the party of law and order”. What happens next this time round?
The APPG’s formula could over time cripple the UK’s successful counter-terrorism strategy and counter-terrorism operations.
The blunt reality is that China is a cyber risk and will remain so for years. It has a dreadful reputation for cyber attacks and intellectual property theft.