Despite new threat, UK armed forces heading for spending crisis

David Cameron has warned of a "generational struggle" against the Islamic State (Isis). He has said he fears it is a struggle that would last "the rest of my political lifetime". He promised that Britain would use all its "military prowess" against it.

Yet what is the country's military prowess, and what are the implications for Britain's armed forces of this projected long-term struggle?

Little has been said or written about the potential consequences for the army, navy, and airforce, and their budgets, even taking into account the prevailing view that military action alone, and certainly not air strikes, will defeat Isis.

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