The Tory security policy paper - entitled "a resilient nation" - proposes establishing teams to tackle threats ranging from cyberterrorism and post-conflict reconstruction to a permanent military command for homeland security.
To finance these priorities the Tories are being forced to find innovative ways to redeploy funds. In describing the "very tough" decisions ahead on the defence budget, the Tories make it clear that "we cannot go on like this".
Most significantly, as part of the "integrated approach" the Tories "will examine the scope for allocating some funding from the international aid budget" to pay for military-backed stabilisation work.
While the party insists this is "consistent" with Mr Cameron's pledge to increase aid funding to 0.7 per cent of national income, there is no doubt it puts a harder edge on development policy. The reallocation of funds is seen as all but inevitable in parts of Whitehall, not least because the development budget is set to grow while the Ministry of Defence and Foreign Office are facing crippling budget crises.
From Financial Times 15th Jan.
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