The influential think-tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) today published a report on the UK’s defence policy, which has made several recommendations which the Liberal Democrats have been calling for in recent years, particularly with regard to Trident. The report, Shared Responsibilities: A National Security Strategy for the United Kingdom, has recommended that the Government commission a Strategic Defence Review, which the Liberal Democrats have been pressing Government for many years on.

On Trident, the report recommended that the future of the UK’s nuclear deterrent should be considered in a Strategic Security Review that should be carried out by the Government. In the interim, the government should allow for maximum flexibility in its policy in order to be able to carry out the Strategic Security Review’s recommendations. Flexibility would be facilitated by extending the life of the Vanguard submarine hulls so that the Strategic Security Review is able to implement all options, including recommendations which do not involve Trident. This, in turn, would demonstrate the UK’s commitment to an eventual nuclear-free world, which would eventually mean relinquishing our own nuclear deterrent.

Given the importance of states working together towards the eventual abolition of nuclear weapons, this would be an important confidence-building measure for the international community, including North Korea and Iran. Furthermore, the report urges the UK to strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and push members of the NPT to sign the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Additional Protocol and for this to be mandatory by the 2010 NPT Conference. Given the dangers of nuclear proliferation and terrorism, this should be a priority for the UK.

The overarching theme of the report is based on the premise that the rise of globalisation – in which many of our national and regional issues are globally interconnected – is something we have to embrace in our security and defence policy. The report urges the UK not only to maintain our commitment to NATO and the US, but also to encourage greater defence cooperation with European countries to complement.

The report raises many important issues for the UK’s national security and makes many apt recomendations, the question is whether the Government will listen to these? Will the Government finally commission a Strategic Defence Review to look into the options regarding our nuclear deterrent?

Given the importance of protecting our troops and ensuring they are given the right equipment for their welfare and safety, the Government needs to move more swiftly to address concerns regarding the amount of protection Snatch Land Rovers provide servicemen. Snatch Land Rovers have come under criticism for being lightly armed and insufficient in protecting soldiers from mines or improvised explosive devices (IEDs) relative to their US counterparts who have been using vehicles such as the RG-31.

Sadly it is our servicemen and women who are paying the price of the Government’s slow response to this problem. It came as little surprise, then, that the families of four servicemen killed in Snatch Land Rovers in Iraq in Afghanistan, are now suing the Ministry of Defence, as they believe their deaths came as a result of the lack of protection they received in the Snatch vehicles, and thus their deaths were preventable if they had been in a more heavily armored vehicle.

The Minister for Defence Procurement, Lord Drayson, claims there is a tradeoff between protection and mobility, but is this a tradeoff worth taking? Surely our troops deserve to be given the equipment and support they need in order to be adequately protected?

Commenting on the Government’s announcement on Gurkha veterans, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said:

“I am absolutely thrilled that the Gurkhas have finally been given justice.
 
“This is a great victory for the Gurkhas and for everyone who has campaigned on their behalf. Read more »

Commenting on Gordon Brown’s announcement that a third batch of Typhoon fighters are to be bought for the RAF, Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, Nick Harvey said:

“These aircraft are unnecessary Cold War relics. The Government has put Britain in a position where we are being forced to throw money at this massively expensive project while our troops on the front line are crying out for the helicopters and armoured vehicles they desperately need.

“Ministers have a duty to extract Britain from this deal with minimal damage to the public finances. Read more »

In the Government’s statement on Deepcut today  it claims that ministers ‘do not believe there is any wider public or Service interest in pursuing’ a public inquiry.

However I believe that there are still a number of significant questions which remain unanswered about the events at Deepcut barracks. 
 
These issues have not gone away, and will not go away until we have had a full public inquiry into what happened.

The Government must stop dragging its feet and take action to ensure we get to the bottom of these tragic events.

As the MoD announces its new strategy for reserves, Liberal Democrat research has shown that the UK’s reserve forces are still deployed at twice the level that they were before the invasion of Iraq.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, Nick Harvey said:

“Our reserves are working at twice the level they were before the invasion of Iraq. The minister is fooling no one when he claims that reserves are not being used to plug gaps in our overstretched full-time forces. Read more »