I am not often drawn to the Weekend supplement of the Daily Telegraph, but today there was time to browse through all of it, and I'm glad I did. In it was a poigant article, written anonymously by an army wife, about whether her husband should accept redundancy in the latest rounds of defence cuts. Quite apart from the decision itself, she touches on a raw nerve for me in a wonderfully calm way. She worries that the armed forces will be "left permanently scarred" because of what she describes as this breach of trust. Instead of blaming the army, I point the finger fairly and squarely at the Government and those who lead it, who simply haven't got a clue what the SDSR has done. To train men and women to fight in a cohesive unit takes a long time, but regrettably only a signature to destroy hundreds of years of history and regimental pride. No politician should be allowed near the armed forces unless they've had some military experience and can fully appreciate their value, both in war and in peace. The latest round of cuts, we are told, have been imposed to meet austere times and each department must share the load. No, they must not. The defence of our country, which encompasses many duties overseas and commitments to NATO and Europe, is not a political pawn, to be haggled over by warring Parties or a divided Cabinet. It is our sacred duty and one that should be our top priority. To return to the wife's story, I am sadded to say that I agree with her view and I suspect we will bitterly regret asking her husband to consider returning to civvy street and thereby lose the skills we shall need in a troubled world in the years ahead.