Don't worry - the private sector will create sufficient new jobs to mop up the ones lost in the public sector. I know this to be true 'cos Osborne said so.

As regards defence cuts - why is the UK expected to 'punch above our weight'. The Spanish, Italians, Germans, Danish etc. don't punch above their weight but seem to be as secure from external threats as anyone else in the EU. Also, one aircraft carrier can be taken out with one missile, so where is the point in spending £5 billion other than to provide local employment? The answer would seem to lay in building a few more smaller ships with helicopter-carrying capacity. And I wouldn't bother sending the army out to fight anyone else's war either unless it's definitely a Nato operation or in defence of one of our dependencies - I think there are a few still left.