Since I voiced my criticisms of government policy towards our Armed Forces during Thursday's defence debate in the Lords, many people have asked whether the five former defence chiefs who stood up were taking part in a planned ambush against the Government. They seem to think we all met up at Starbucks and plotted to give everyone in it a bloody nose.
In fact, the opposite happened. Far from being a co-ordinated plot, this was a spontaneous eruption from a group of people who find themselves at the end of their tether regarding the treatment of our Armed Forces.
Even though it was not planned, we all feel the same way. We are all concerned that we are heading for the rocks unless something happens soon, and we do feel strongly that some of this country's finest institutions are at risk in a way they have never been before.
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The Government had already been warned - but no one seemed to take any notice. Ministers claim that there has been a year-on-year increase in defence spending, but, even so, this does not reflect what has been happening around the world in terms of the increased demands being made on our Armed Forces.
I, for one, find the Government's attitude to the Services mystifying. We should give it credit for injecting some, if not enough, new money into defence, for Iraq and Afghanistan and for training. Undoubtedly, much of the equipment that has been introduced is as good as any equipment anywhere in the world.
However, it is unfortunate that too many people were killed and lives were lost through its late arrival; the equipment could have been made available earlier if adequate funding had been found sooner, when the requirement was known about.
The fact is that the defence of our country has been underfunded for years. In the Cold War, we got away with it, but took huge risks. To compound our difficulties, the government of the day took a peace dividend that now seems unwisely large, but that was a long time ago.
We now have Services that have been underfunded for years and find themselves desperately stretched fighting two wars.
At the Lord Mayor's banquet last week, the Prime Minister affirmed his commitment that he would, at all times, support and strengthen our Armed Forces, our defences and security.
In my experience as Chief of the Defence Staff, he was the most unsympathetic Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the only senior cabinet minister who avoided coming to the Ministry of Defence to be briefed on our problems.
The only time that I remember him coming to pay us a visit was when he came to talk about the future of the Rosyth dockyard, which was in his constituency. Gordon Brown must take much of the blame for the very serious situation we find the Services in today.
I am, though, delighted that he is now taking more interest. He has visited Iraq and Afghanistan on various occasions and has devoted more time to our people in the Ministry of Defence. But can he really understand how serious the situation is if he appoints a Secretary of State who is not fully committed to defence at such a time as this?
I, like others, speak to servicemen and women who view Des Browne's double appointment (he is also Secretary of State for Scotland) as a serious slight, particularly when you consider that the intensity of operations is far higher than it has been for many years. I cannot understand how the Prime Minister could do such a thing.
It is well known that the defence budget is under huge pressure, and it will be interesting to know which projects will be reduced and which scalings will be reviewed. We know that difficult decisions lie ahead, unless additional funding is made available.
Lately, ministers have been boasting about the extra money that has been produced for defence, but whatever has happened, it is woefully inadequate as far as running the Services today is concerned. It is not a matter for self-congratulation.
We find ourselves in a very dangerous world at the moment. Long gone are the days when we could remain safe in our own country, isolated from troubles elsewhere.
If the Government is really serious about defence and security, as the Prime Minister clearly said last week, funding must be properly increased or the Government will seriously damage one of the state's greatest assets beyond quick repair.
