No need to take lectures from the Tories on defence

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British ArmyBy Darren Clifford

The promise from defence secretary, Liam Fox, of “Jam Tomorrow” with his commencement of crippling cuts to the Armed Forces that will eventually amount to 12,000 posts for an already overstretched MOD is claimed to be the direct consequence of a funding black hole left by the previous government. Jim Murphy rightly argues that this is as a result of a rushed Strategic Defence and Security Review. What Jim could have mentioned is that that review was neither strategic, nor in the best interests of national security and was the kind of treasury led botch job that we have come to expect from this Tory-led government.

The problem with all of that however, isn’t that this government just doesn’t get it, but that Tory governments never get it. This may come as a bit of a surprise, but the Tories aren’t very good at defence and so we should take no lectures from them when it comes to a subject that many in the Labour movement don’t see as our natural home ground. We should not forget that the very servicemen and women presently serving our country at home and abroad come from the same streets as we do. Working class families serving their country, with loved ones at home who are just as likely to vote Labour as any other party, and that’s without mentioning those who work in the defence industries up and down Britain.

While the Tories argue the economic imperative with this latest set of defence cuts, we should remember that this is a group with form. They have over the years consistently cut our defence budget and as a consequence our defence capabilities. 18% cuts in manpower in the “Options for Change” review of 1990, that was sarcastically dubbed “options for redundancies” by serving personnel at the time. Within four years they had changed their focus to come forth with the document “Front Line First” which required a further 8% of cuts to defence numbers, decimated the support services of the military and presided over the systematic destruction of the Defence Medical Services on the back of a “peace dividend” that has not to date materialised. Add to that the sale of military married quarters to a consortium including Japanese investment bank Nomura International only to rent them back and you start to get the picture.

Of course Labour has to take our own share of the responsibility. The Strategic Defence Review under the direction of George Robertson did little to stave off the haemorrhage of talent from the forces and the outsourcing of psychiatric in-patient services is a cause for real concern. Even with the continued farcical procurement processes that have blighted the MOD for years, it has to be said that Des Browne did everything he could to ensure to that service personnel had the equipment they needed.

Politicians either don’t or won’t understand that if you give a soldier a spoon when he needs a shovel he’ll just get on with it. It is up to those in authority then to listen carefully to what is being said at the ground level and not the platitudes that come as a consequence of a “can do” culture.

Even now in the wake of this latest set of Tory cuts General Sir Mike Jackson, former head of the Army will only express mild concern about future capability saying: “The defence review laid out a force structure to be achieved by 2020. Between now and then there are some risks being taken, in my view. For example, we will not have a carrier strike capability for the next eight/nine years or so.”

While we were in government the Tories talked a good fight when it came to defence issues and accused us of breaking the Military Covenant. They are now guilty of doing just that at a time when brave men and women serve our country in war and some, unfortunately, give what Lincoln called their last full measure of devotion. It is up to us in the Labour Party to commit ourselves to a new covenant with service personnel and their families and make a solemn vow not to leave defence as a Tory subject.

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