The only party to be trusted with the Armed Forces is Labour

By James Mills

Today sees the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), after months of will he won he, Calamity Cameron has revealed that his Government will cut the defence budget by 8% cutting 7,000 troops and leaving us without a carrier to launch jets at sea, but should we be surprised by the Tory axe? Or by the looming of a defenceless decade?

I have previously posted on Labour’s defence record pointing out that successive Tory governments have cut defence. I have also mentioned that it is the Labour Party who have best looked after the army and in particular the Gurkhas and that we have been unfairly treated on military matters when in contrast our record is respectable compared to the Conservatives. But for those naysayers here is another kernel of knowledge worth noting: The fulltime trained strength of the Army actually declined from between 1980 to 1997 every year whereas under Labour since 1997 the opposite was true – actually increasing between 1997 to 2010. It would seem that just like the 80’s Tory cuts to the army and navy are back on the agenda.

As the SDR approaches it appears quite clearly that our record is honourable on defence, the problem is that we don’t bang the drum on this enough. With the news that the government intends to axe the Gurkhas you would have thought one would have seen Joanna Lumley storming around, but alas she has not been seen. Maybe after David Cameron said he wanted to put the army “front and centre in public life” he would have got more criticism as it appears he actually wants to give the army a short back and sides by cutting their numbers.

But although it goes without saying that the Tories and their faithful followers will be blind to these contradictions, we as a party should not be so modest. Maybe the apprehension to all things military in our party stems from a history of pacifism or perhaps fears of jingoism which the Tories embrace. To be honest, it’s deeper than that in our party; I can’t remember the last leftwing think-tank pamphlet on the armed forces? Please correct me in the comments below if I’m wrong.

However, we leave a vacuum open to the Conservatives to exploit, they talk a good fight on defence but their record is very blotchy.

There are constituencies like Colchester that are held by Liberal MPs like Bob Russell who will find ConDem cuts in defence a big local issue. South Dorset – a seat we lost at the last election to the Tories due in part to Lib Dem flight – is a constituency ripe for a positive Labour narrative on the armed forces with its naval port and an army base at Bovington. There are constituencies in some naval towns like Portsmouth North that will be affected by defence cuts and which will be thought of as Tory seats that they will expect to retain.

Labour as a party needs to take pride in our defence record and although recognising where the axe must fall in defence, also set out a positive alternative which speaks to the constituents of these towns. Not only do the military bases in these constituencies contribute to the local economy but also many electors will be in employment directly or indirectly because of them. The cuts the coalition are planning may fall on many households. Some seats like Gosport, which have pockets of high deprivation and social housing, are crying out for a Labour MP to represent them and if naval cuts come expect those pockets to deepen.

We have for too long sat back and allowed the Conservatives to rule the roost on all matters concerning the armed forces, falling into the belief that it is their domain and they are some kind of mythical ‘armed forces party’. One just has to take a look at some army online forums to see that there is a growing disenchantment there. The Tory myth of being the ‘Forces Party’ is slowly coming undone.

Jim Murphy is a good appointment but Labour as a whole needs to find a voice on defence. Yes we made mistakes which we have owned up for, but we also have a good story to tell on defence issues and we should be bolder in reciting it as a party.