Here’s an interesting piece by Tim Montgomerie looking at what he believes to be some of the causes of Britain’s current weakness. Some are fair, some less so, but the whole thing is well worth reading. It’s puzzling, however, to see that Mr. Montgomerie, no friend of Mr. Blair’s government, still signs up to the too simplistic idea peddled too often over here that the Prime Minister has shown “strategic clarity” since 9/11. While it’s undeniable (and to his credit) that Mr. Blair has demonstrated a far better grasp of the challenge posed by Islamic extremism than many European politicians, when it comes to what he has actually done, as opposed to what he has most eloquently said, he has fallen very, very far short of “strategic clarity”. In fact, again and again, he has demonstrated the opposite.Tim Montgomerie quotes Conservative defense spokesman Liam Fox’s observation that Britain now spends only 2.2% on defense, “the smallest proportion of our national wealth that we have spent on defending our country since 1930.” That doesn’t look much like “strategic clarity” to me. It looks like utter incompetence.