The Prime Minister leaned back. “Pure genius,” he breathed. “We hold the Russians to ransom with their own missiles.”

“Exactly, Prime Minister,” Berry said.

“And this is where Dave comes in, Prime Minister,” Kydd interjected. “This will be a NATO operation although, of course, the US will be lead nation. Rasputin is the key to success so, if this is to work, it’ll be very much down to the skill and ingenuity of GCHQ. And Dave is the key to linking Rasputin with the NATO plan. However, we shouldn’t forget that, given the size of force we can offer these days, the US consider us as a junior partner alongside other European nations. It’s just lucky that DSACEUR is still a UK post, but we can’t take even that for granted indefinitely.”

“What do you mean?” demanded Little, turning to McKinlay. “UK has always been a lead nation in NATO and punched well above its weight.”

Walker watched as McKinlay thought for a moment, as if pondering whether to accept the Prime Minister’s line or to push back. Then he saw the Royal Marine’s jaw set and his eyes narrow. He looked the Prime Minister directly in the eye and spoke.

“I’ve told the MOD many times that those days are over, Prime Minister. UK may think like that, but none of the other nations think that of UK. Sure, there’s still a lot of respect for the quality of the people in the British Armed Forces, but the reality is that UK influence in NATO has diminished significantly, and that is entirely down to the constant reductions in defense capability of the last decade or so. And I say that despite the big equipment promises of the 2015 Defense Review. As far as our NATO allies are concerned, those were promises of jam tomorrow and not combat effectiveness today.”

“But . . .” Little started to protest, but having glanced at Kydd who was nodding in agreement with McKinlay’s dire assessment, he instead gestured at him to continue.

“Thank you, Prime Minister . . . What is more, UK’s position has been damaged by its reluctance to get involved in NATO operations and its willingness to let other nations carry the burden. Before all this kicked off, the Germans and Italians were heading the league table in terms of European contributors to operations in places like the Balkans and the NATO mission in Afghanistan. On top of that, no one can understand why a maritime nation like the UK scrapped its maritime patrol aircraft.” He paused. “And with the sinking of the Queen Elizabeth, that particular chicken came home to roost . . . Catastrophically.”

Walker was not surprised that Little was bristling at this criticism. “Well, General,” he said sarcastically, “you’re a British officer, you’d better get out and tell NATO that we are stepping up to the mark again, especially with Rasputin.”