Commenting on yesterday’s meeting between the MoD and Defence Chiefs to discuss cuts to the defence budget, Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, Nick Harvey said:

“It beggars belief that at the same time as a coroner feels he must personally raise the issue of troops’ protection with the Government, the MoD is considering slashing the programme for new armoured vehicles.

“If our troops are to be in Afghanistan for the next thirty years they will need the right equipment for the job. The Government must make sure it does not cut funds for the urgently needed housing modernisation programme.

“There is a defence budget crunch underway but the Government will not admit it. Ministers should come forward with a plan for a full Strategic Defence Review, rather than salami-slicing expensive programmes.

“If the UK has ordered more than it can afford then we must make a strategic reappraisal of the country’s needs. Otherwise, these cuts will be like operating on a patient without making a diagnosis.”

Four years on and over £5billion pounds later, our involvement in Iraq has been costly. As the Government begins a final drawdown in the area we may see an easing on the demands on our service personnel. However, with our forces set to remain in Afghanistan for at least another decade we also have to be sure that we can afford to support our personnel and provide them with all that is needed to complete the operation successfully. We cannot afford to fail, both for the personnel who have fought so bravely and for the Afghan people we are trying to help. Greater international cooperation and guaranteed funds are integral to ensuring this does not happen.   Read more »

“Overstretched, underpaid and over there” might be an  appropriate modern-day take on the infamous line of the Second World War, used in its original form to describe American GIs in Britain. With intense operations on two fronts, in Afghanistan and Iraq, combined with the cumulative effects of underinvestment by consecutive Conservative and Labour Governments, it is a phrase that pithily describes the modern predicament of our armed forces.   Read more »

Commenting on reports that Ministry of Defence has lost a laptop which could contain the details of up to 600 recruits, Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, Nick Harvey said:

“For the details of people in such sensitive positions to vanish like this defies belief. It must be established as soon as possible how this could have happened and what the potential security implications are. Last year was the worst ever for personal privacy, with 37 million items of personal data being lost, including millions of child benefit claimants. It’s time the Government started to take the problem of data security far more seriously.”

Commenting on today’s remarks by Coroner Andrew Walker, accusing the Ministry of Defence of breaching soldiers’ trust by sending them to Afghanistan without basic equipment, Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, Nick Harvey said: “These stinging comments sum up the way our armed forces have been consistently betrayed by the Government.

“For years soldiers have been left overstretched and under-equipped. How many more tragedies like this must there be before ministers stop rewarding bravery with incompetence?”

Our research into the state of the helicopter fleet received some coverage this weekend in the Sunday Telegraph:

Half of the Apache gunships supporting British troops in Afghanistan and Iraq were grounded this summer, new Government figures reveal.

A third of the Chinook transport helicopters on operations were also withdrawn from service as they were found not to be “fit for purpose”. The heavy toll that the conflicts have had on Britain’s air power is revealed in a survey of the state of Army helicopters, conducted by the Ministry of Defence in August. Read more »