Fox: MoD cuts will not be easy

The Defence Secretary, speaking at the Conservative Party Conference, said the legacy from Labour made cuts unavoidable.

“”It is not an easy time to be at the Ministry of Defence,” he said.

“You should see what Labour left behind. No defence review for more than 12 years. A £38bn black hole in the defence budget. A military covenant in need of repair. An MoD in need of radical reform.”

However, despite the need for cuts, Dr Fox pledged to support the armed forces, both in their missions, such as the war in Afghanistan, and afterwards.

He also said the UK’s nuclear deterrent programme, Trident, would go ahead – although it is still unclear whether it will be paid for by the MoD or the Treasury.

Support for veterans

He announced serious improvements in mental health care for people serving in the armed forces and veterans.

“It is our people, the men and women of our armed forces, who are our greatest asset,” he said. “Without them, there is no defence of the realm.”

Dr Fox introduced a 24 hour support line for veterans and 30 more additional mental health nurses in Mental Health Trusts to provide support for veterans.

Channel 4 News Who Knows Who profiles Defence Secretary Liam Fox 

Brigadier Robin Bacon, chief of staff at The Soldiers’ Charity told Channel 4 News the helpline was a “welcome, albeit small step in the right direction.”

He said the charity “would welcome a pan-charity, tri-service 24 hour support line to cover the full spectrum of veterans issues; the government’s proposal is therefore a welcome, albeit small, step in the right direction.

“The Soldiers’ Charity has experienced a 30 per cent increase in demand for our support over the last two years and we anticipate an even greater demand as a result of current operations long into the future.

“Seriously injured young men and women resulting from current operations will need support for the rest of their lives – and this could be for the next 60 plus years. We owe it to the brave men and women serving their country to ensure that their future personal wellbeing remains high on the government’s agenda.”

A spokesman for charity Combat Stress said veterans often came for help 14 years after being discharged from the service – in which time they could have seen a “total unravelling of a normal life.”

Referring to Dr Fox’s speech and the simultaneous publishing of the Murrison Report’s recommendations on the topic of mental health in the armed forces, he said: “This development is a big step on the road to ensuring that our veterans get the support they need. But the journey’s not over yet.

“Combat Stress has seen a 72 per cent increase in demand for its services since 2005, with over 1,300 new referrals last year alone. The number of veterans needing help for mental health problems is only going to grow.”

Watch: Liam Fox on supporting veterans

Blame

Although he did announce some investments, Dr Fox blamed the Labour party for the lack of money for other measures.

He said: “Labour’s legacy means that there isn’t enough money to do all that we would wish.”

He added: “New Labour was the most short sighted, self serving, incompetent, useless, and ineffective government that Britain has ever known.”

Future

The Defence Secretary also looked forward to the Defence and Security Review, which is due to report in the next few weeks.

He said: “I didn’t come into politics wishing to see a reduction in our defence budget. Neither did the Prime Minister…

“To all those who serve in the armed forces, to all those who have served in the past, and to all of the families that support them, I send a simple message from all of us to all of you – thank you. We will not let you down.”

Patrick Mercer MP on defence cuts 
Every department understands the cuts are necessary, but defence is unique. The MOD is the only department that is fighting a war and which risks the lives of its employees on a daily basis.

The trick will be getting the strategic defence review to be just that: strategic. It's been done before, for instance, Cardwell completely reformed the British army whilst fighting in Zululand and on the Helmand river in 1880. Dr Fox has got to get it right this time.

There is room for cuts to be made. For instance there are five, massive headquarters that control only about 10,000 combat troops at any one time. Each headquarters is stuffed with senior officers and civil servants. On top of that, there are more civil servants in the MOD than soldiers in the army, whilst over 30 brigadiers have no real jobs to go to!

Procurement will be at the centre of the cuts. Forces have got to be ready for the current and the next war, not the last war. So, RAF fighter fleets designed for operations in the cold war are vulnerable. Similarly the arguments will rage over whether we need the Trident system that can destroy continents while we are most vulnerable to a militant with a $1,000 missile. But aircraft carriers must be looked at objectively. They provide not just platforms for weapons, there are immensely useful as floating aid points for reconstruction work.

Last, the most crucial element: manpower. Whichever way you cut it, Afghanistan is manpower intensive and the issues there are decided by boots on the ground and helicopters. For my money, the wars of the next decade will be fought in exactly the same way.

Richard Drax MP, a former soldier, told Channel 4 News it was an “excellent speech, as far as it goes” but that he was “still concerned that the accountants are going to make the running” with the announcement of cuts in two weeks’ time.

He said he is still urging defence ministers to take decisions about defence spending out of this round of cuts.

“Endless governments have rushed in to make cuts to defence, always to their regret,” he said. The UK’s role in Nato is a “heavy responsibility that must not be tinkered with lightly,” he added.

He said he was 100 per cent behind the moves to give extra funding for mental care for soldiers, and funding for accommodation.

“It’s a start,” he says. “As a former soldier I know the accommodation was not good.”

He added that as soldiers risk their lives for the UK “the least they deserve when they return home is somewhere to rest their head that is clean, tidy, presentable and gives the comfort that they deserve.”