Defence: Quantity has a Quality of its Own.

The primary duty of the government is to ensure the safety of its citizens. The flip side of this coin is the state has a monopoly of force. To achieve these objectives the state must have adequate armed forces, police and security services.

We are not meeting the UK threshold for adequate armed forces. We have seen the embarrassment over 2 aircraft carriers who are either too broken or not ready to take part in NATO exercises. Looking at the army, I know that we will be down to less than 150 Challenger 3 tanks, yet in my time in 22 Armoured Brigade back in the early 1990s, we alone had 114 battle tanks. Meanwhile there are similar stories to tell with less aircraft and limited spares which cut down flying hours.

How did we get to this stage? The government will boast that Britain punches above its weight, but this requires a military which can sustain military operations. Too often we have spent on sexy and glitzy elements such as nuclear, aircraft carriers and state-of-the-art aircraft. What has not been done is to provide the necessary spare parts and ammunition. Tanks and guns are useless if the ammunition runs out after a couple of days.

We also have a real problem in procuring equipment. Partially this is due to a lack of consistent funding which results in a stop-start cycle of procurement. The MoD is not an intelligent customer, and we have not invested in an industrial base which can sustain operations. Allied to equipment problems, recruitment for the services is disastrous. Much of the responsibility lies in outsourcing it rather than using uniformed personnel. Waiting for years before being inducted into the training regime is very wasteful especially when unemployment is high, and recruits can be attracted elsewhere.

Are quick fixes available? The bad news is no, but the first step is to be honest in what we can afford. We also need to bin the idea that technology can overcome the lack of any critical mass in combat power such as tanks, artillery and aircraft. Quantity has a quality of its own.

Cllr Luigi Gregori

Lib Dem PPC for NWHants