A MORE serious appraisal needs to be made about the requirements for the defence of this country.

It is necessary for us to watch what is going on in the world and the changing paradigm of world alignments. Existing structures already under strain, such as the European Union, may not be durable long term.

The ending of US hegemony is not imminent, but it could well be that this country thinks of different alignments.

Any military or economic struggle in the future is likely to be different from what we have seen in the past.

It is always foolhardy to predict future developments, but they need to be watched and I think that perhaps later in the year someone will be suggesting a very different approach this country should be taking to assure its own security.

It could require a very different defence review, and hopefully one not dominated by panic about the balance of our public finances.

Geoff Bulmer Billingham.