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National Security is Labour’s first priority and today we welcome the PM’s statement on the long-overdue upgrade in defence spending. We were promised the most ambitious and comprehensive review in a generation and we expect the govt to deliver it.
But this smacks of too little, too late, and a spending announcement without a strategy. The government has once again delayed the publication of the Integrated Review until at least the New Year and there’s still no clarity on its strategic goal.
Back in February we were told by the @NAOorguk the blackhole in the 10-year Equipment Plan budget widened to £13bn, from £7bn from the year before. This is compounded by the real terms fall in overall defence spending by over £8bn over the last 10 years. https://www.nao.org.uk/report/the-equipment-plan-2019-to-2029/?slide=1
As of 1 April 2020, the full-time trained strength of the UK Armed Forces was 132K, a shortfall of just under 12K (8%) below the govt's own target. High tech systems are essential to keep us and our allies safe, but our troops are indispensable. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7930/
This decade of decline poses a risk to our security and our Forces personnel. It must end now and we await further details if the govt will provide the MoD with a fully-resourced spending plan that meets our capability needs for the future and keeps our Armed Forces at its heart.
