British officials, eager(渴望的，热切的) to rebuild bridges with(与...重建关系) Europe, see defence as a ticket(门票；途径) to a closer relationship with the bloc in other spheres. After the resignation last week of John Healey(① 背景：约翰·希利（John Heal...), a widely respected defence secretary, over the failure of the government to come up with the money for the armed forces to match its rhetoric, that assumption is fraying(磨损；瓦解).
英国官员渴望与欧洲重建桥梁，将国防视为在其他领域与欧盟加强关系的门票。但上周，广受尊敬的国防大臣约翰·希利因政府未能拿出足够资金来匹配其言论而辞职，这一假设正在瓦解。
Mr Healey had been locked in a battle(陷入斗争/角力) with the Treasury over a spending plan to fund the government’s strategic defence review (SDR). In his brutal(尖锐的；残酷的) resignation letter to Sir Keir Starmer he told the prime minister: “You have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit(投入（资源）；承诺) the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats.” The SDR, published a year ago, called for moving at speed to be ready for war. In February Sir Keir told the Munich Security Conference: “We must build our hard power, because that is the currency(通货；流行) of the age…As Europe, we must stand on our own two feet. And that means being bold.”
希利先生一直与财政部就资助政府战略防务审查（SDR）的支出计划进行角力。在他写给基尔·斯塔默爵士的言辞尖锐的辞职信中，他告诉首相：“你一直无力，财政部一直不愿，在这个威胁日益加剧的时刻，为国家防御所需投入资源。”一年前发布的SDR呼吁加快行动，准备战争。今年二月，基尔爵士在慕尼黑安全会议上说：“我们必须打造硬实力，因为这是时代的通货……作为欧洲，我们必须自立。这意味着要勇敢。”
But British boldness has been conspicuously(明显地，引人注目地) lacking. Wrangling over how much money the armed forces would get saw the defence investment plan (DIP) delayed time and again. Service chiefs warned of a £28bn ($38bn) shortfall(缺口，不足) in the equipment budget over the next four years. The need to get the DIP out before the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7th brought matters to a head(使事态达到紧急关头). Mr Healey, by his own account, was presented with an allocation that fell “well short” of what was required. The headline figure of £13.5bn was actually nearer £10bn once some Treasury sleight of hand(花招；巧妙手法) is taken into account.
但英国的勇敢明显欠缺。关于军队能获得多少资金的争论导致国防投资计划（DIP）一再推迟。军种首长警告说，未来四年设备预算将出现280亿英镑（380亿美元）的缺口。必须在7月7日安卡拉北约峰会前公布DIP的需要使事态达到高潮。据希利先生自己称，他得到的拨款分配‘远不及’所需。一旦考虑到财政部的一些花招，135亿英镑的标题数字实际上更接近100亿英镑。
Derring-do and the DIP
英勇行为与国防投资计划