We should follow the Tory lead ...

WWII is long over. Everyone should come home.

British troops could be withdrawn from Germany for good, nearly 70 years after the end of the Second World War, if the Conservatives win the general election, it emerged last night.

Liam Fox, the Shadow Defence Secretary, said that it was “no longer necessary” to keep more than 20,000 military personnel in the country. Ending the commitment would free up forces to carry out vital Nato operations outside Europe, he said.

Exactly right.

With the exception of some joint logistics bases and NATO training areas - American maneuver forces should be on the way home. If some time in the future Europe needs American forces - well the one thing we have learned over the last 100 years is how to transport forces over seas - and hey - we could even build the strategic air and sea lift to do it.

I got a kick out of this line,

Dr Fox signalled his determination to conduct a “wholesale recasting of our foreign and defence policy” in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. He wants new Nato member states from eastern and central Europe, particularly Poland, to take over Britain’s commitments in Germany, freeing British troops to be deployed elsewhere.

How about this; Germany has one of the strongest economies in the world and plenty of spare GDP % to spend on defense - let them defend Hanover for goodness sakes.

.... and yes, I also grinned that the last holdout was around Hanover .... the ancestral home of Queen Elizabeth's family.

Hat tip AT1.