DIFFICULT DECISIONS FOR DEFENCE
May 8, 2008 4:07 PM
Speaking in a debate in the House of Commons on 'Defence in the World', local MP and Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary Nick Harvey, used the occasion to reassert his belief that our forces should be withdrawn from Iraq at the earliest and safest opportunity and reaffirm his commitment to the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan. He further highlighted the growing strains on our armed forces and called on the Government to make some difficult decisions about the future of Britain's defence.
Commenting Nick Harvey MP said:
"It is time for us to make some difficult decisions about the future of our role in the world. At present our armed forces are suffering from critical overstretch, with a growing outflow from the Armed Forces reducing our manpower capabilities, and an unwieldy and limited defence budget under increasing pressure. We cannot continue to operate at the current tempo without seriously undermining our forces, it is clear that something has to change.
Not only do we need to improve our procurement practices to make it more effective and cost efficient, but we need to seriously look at how we can reconfigure our defence structure to respond to modern day threats and challenges with a strong, flexible, and easily-deployable force.
I repeat my calls for a new Strategic Defence Review, with service personnel at its core, to fundamentally reassess our force capabilities and our role in the world and take on the key traditional assumptions that no one seems prepared to challenge"
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