Mike Beardall The vast population of this ‘sceptred isle’ is ‘sea blind’ or, if you prefer, ‘maritime illiterate’. We should acknowledge this as the steady state and the only thing that could change one’s appreciation would be total war. We can bang on about 70% of the world’s oceans being covered in water, 80% of the people of the Earth living within 100 miles of the sea, 90%-plus of all our trade being conducted on the sea as well as virtually 100% of the data, the lifeblood of our modern economy, travelling under the sea. Our Nation is also blind to the business of defence; a responsibility…
