I've now had time to digest an interesting address by General Sir Nicholas Houghton, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), at the annual Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) lecture. Of course, like every CDS, the General had to tread a difficult path between supporting our armed forces and not upsetting his political masters.He did pretty well, considering the budget cuts he's having to deal with. From my own perspective, and those of a few of us in the House, the Government has singularly failed to make defence our top priority, but what government does when money is tight and needs are great? History reminds us how, in the past, spending on defence has been repeatedly neglected, to our severe detriment, yet we never seem to learn. Now, ironically, the General tells us he has "exquisite equipment" but not enough soldiers, sailors and airmen to man it. He identifies the Royal Navy as the most vulnerable in this regard. I do hope Mr Cameron and Mr Hammond are listening, as regulars in all three Services continue to be made redundant, not least in the army which is being scaled down from 102,000 to 82,000. I do understand, in part, the government's argument that there can be no strong defence without a strong economy, however this is where priorities must be set and, in our case, they have not been. I long for the day when our great country can once again be solely responsible for making its own laws, which govern, among other areas, how best to spend its money, not least on the defence of our realm and dependents. In the meantime, and in an increasingly unstable world, I do hope we are not called on to meet our many commitments in a major way. I have no doubt that our magnificent men and women would rise to the challenge, while we politicians would rightly run the risk of being ridiculed for once again betraying our armed services.