The news that the Army has been ordered to take a 25-day Christmas holiday from December 14 to January 7 in order to save on its utility bills is beyond satire. As the 110,000 remaining members of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces enjoy their enforced ‘block leave,’ we must hope that Britain’s enemies adopt the same policy! Otherwise this could prove to be an even poorer decision than paring our Services to the bone through the SDSR to save money. Army chiefs are saving face by saying the time off is a thank you to troops for their hard work during 2012 at the Olympics, the Diamond Jubilee – and of course, in Afghanistan. But senior commanders say such a decision is “insulting and morale sapping” and makes it clear “just where spending priorities do not lie.” I agree with them.