The British military is overstretched, undermanned and suffering from a decade of neglect by the current Labour Government. We have a Treasury which is heavily influencing how the campaign is conducted in Helmand and we have a procurement programme that for all intents and purposes has failed. The top 19 major procurement projects have gone over budget by a total of £2.95bn and are cumulatively 429 months delayed.
Defence spending for science and technology has been recently cut by 19%. This is tantamount to strategic suicide, and is testament to Labour’s short sighted approach to defence policy—especially during the current economic crisis since science and technology companies employ thousands of people throughout the UK.
We all see the shortcomings in defence; the list of indictments runs long: family accommodation, lack of helicopters, cuts in the Royal Navy, and lack of kit for frontline forces. Yet, with all these shortcomings, the MoD was able to find over £2 billion to pay external consultants and £2.3 billion for the refurbishment of the MoD headquarters. As things stand, our Armed Forces is not equipped, manned, or resourced to carry out its current operational tempo. Our brave men and women in uniform, and their families, are suffering the consequences.
The current Government is unable to match resources with our overseas military commitments because there hasn’t been a Strategic Defence review since 1998. The 1998 Strategic Defence Review which stated that ‘we must match the commitments we undertake to our planned resources’ is an anachronism in the post 9-11 world. Without a new Strategic Defence Review this will never happen.
This is why the Conservative Party has pledged to launch a Strategic Defence Review after returning to Government. In addition, we will introduce a US-style system of quadrennial defence reviews and put this requirement into legislation. This is the only sensible course of action. The fact that the last SDR was in 1998 is completely unacceptable.
Our troops and their families deserve better.