UK Military 'to be left toothless by draconian cuts'

[vector7]

UK Military 'to be left toothless by draconian cuts'

Warning of carriers with no jets in fight for funds

By Tim Shipman
Last updated at 8:09 AM on 13th October 2010

• Comments (102)

The Armed Forces could be stripped of the ability to launch amphibious attacks and be left with aircraft carriers that don’t have any jets.
They could also face a cut in the number of frigates, it emerged last night.

Senior defence sources revealed that the forces will be left with a ‘severe capability gap’ unless the Treasury finds more money to fund the Strategic Defence Review.

Chancellor George Osborne is demanding that the Ministry of Defence makes real terms cuts of 10 per cent in its annual spending of £37billion.

Under threat: The number of Navy frigates could be cut while those scheduled to be built could fall from 18 to 6

This is on top of another 10 per cent cut to plug a £38billion black hole that has built up in the MoD budget.

But senior government sources say Defence Secretary Liam Fox and the three service chiefs are warning that to go further than a 4 per cent cut will force Britain to abandon key defence capabilities.

Most major decisions were taken ‘in principle’ at a meeting of the National Security Council last week, including plans to build two new aircraft carriers.

But ministers are still arguing over £1.5billion a year of funds. Unless the Treasury budges, the Navy will be forced to axe its amphibious landing fleet – undermining Britain’s ability to wage expeditionary warfare.
It will also lead to a cull of fast jets, with either RAF Tornados or three squadrons of Harrier jump jets axed early.

A senior source last night admitted that this would lead to ‘a capability gap’, meaning the new aircraft carriers would be left with no aircraft.



Review: Defence Secretary Liam Fox will announce the first part of the cuts on Monday

This would force defence chiefs to borrow jets from the U.S. Marines or another ally.

The number of frigates to be built could be cut from 18 to six. A deal must be cut by Friday, when the plans go to the printers.

Dr Fox and Foreign Secretary William Hague will reveal the first part of the defence review on Monday when the Government publishes a document on threats to Britain’s security and the UK’s general strategic outlook.

David Cameron will then make a statement to Parliament on Tuesday spelling out precisely which kit will be cut.

The Army will be protected until after British troops pull out of Afghanistan.

But Dr Fox plans to save hundreds of millions of pounds by withdrawing the Army from its German garrisons.

Government officials have been keen to portray the defence review as a highly formal exercise with decisions being taken by the National Security Council, which was set up by the Prime Minister to oversee all aspects of Britain’s security.

But another meeting yesterday, which was billed as the decisive moment, failed to resolve the differences.

With no further formal meetings planned, the final details are likely to be thrashed out in private confrontations between Dr Fox, Mr Osborne and Mr Cameron in the next two days.

When the Cabinet discussed the defence review and the spending round yesterday Mr Cameron warned that there would have to be ‘tough decisions ahead’ and that the Government is on ‘a hard road’.

He told ministers: ‘No stone has been left unturned, no sum of waste
has been deemed too small to escape the microscope of efficiency.

‘No hard choice has been ducked. If we pull together to deal with the debt today, in a few years’ time the rewards will be felt by everyone.’

Last month it emerged that Dr Fox had warned Mr Cameron in a leaked letter that draconian cuts to the Armed Forces cannot be carried out without ‘grave consequences’.

Dr Fox said the Tories risk ‘destroying much of the reputation and capital’ they have built up on defence. He warned of a ‘brutal reaction’ if ‘we do not recognise the dangers and continue to push for such draconian cuts when we are at war’.

[vector7]

Liam Fox assures US of Britain's commitment to NATO

Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, has insisted the country will continue to play a major role in Nato after senior members of Barack Obama's US administration delivered a stark and unusual public warning against large cuts in the British defence budget.

By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent, and Andy Bloxham
Published: 8:29AM BST 15 Oct 2010
63 Comments

Previous
1 of 2 Images
Next


Hillary Clinton: 'I think we do have to have an alliance where there is a commitment to the common defence' Photo: AFP/GETTY

Mr Fox said the Government had a "global vision of Britain's place in the world".

He also reinforced his personal stance on the cuts, describing himself as "a hawk on defence", and criticised Labour for "writing cheques it knew could not be cashed".


Related Articles

• RAF cuts 'make Britain's air space vulnerable'
• Navy to be smallest size ever to save carriers
• Britain and France could share nuclear testing site
• Labour left 'ghastly legacy' over Forces, says Liam Fox

Writing in the Times, he said: "We will continue to be a big contributor to Nato and our interests will be more secure."

His comments came after US politicians suggested an over-enthusiastic reduction in defence spending could affect international security and strain the Special Relationship.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, and Robert Gates, made their unusual public intervention as talks on the defence budget went down to the wire, with the chiefs of the Armed Forces making 11th-hour personal appeals to David Cameron last night.

The Daily Telegraph disclosed last month that US officials were privately concerned that British defence spending was about to fall below 2 per cent of gross domestic product, the minimum standard expected of Nato members. Mrs Clinton and Mr Gates, America’s two most senior figures on international relations and security, made those fears public in separate remarks.

In a BBC interview to be broadcast today, Mrs Clinton was asked whether defence cuts being made in Europe, and specifically in Britain, worried the US administration.

She replied: “It does. The reason it does is because I think we do have to have an alliance where there is a commitment to the common defence.

“Nato has been the most successful alliance for defensive purposes in the history of the world, I guess, but it has to be maintained. Now each country has to be able to make its appropriate contributions.”

Mr Gates attended a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels yesterday, where he delivered his own warning. “My worry is that the more our allies cut their capabilities, the more people will look to the US to cover whatever gaps are created,” he told reporters on his flight to Belgium. “At a time when we are facing stringencies of our own, that’s a concern for me.”

Later, he told the Nato meeting: “As nations deal with their economic problems, we must guard against the hollowing out of alliance military capability by spending reductions that cut too far into muscle.”

The American intervention will increase tensions within Whitehall over the scale of the defence cuts to be announced next week.

Britain is one of a handful of European Nato members that meets the 2 per cent standard. Officials believe that defence spending could fall as low as 1.7 per cent of GDP.

George Osborne, the Chancellor, is pressing for a 10 per cent cut in the defence budget, which Dr Fox is resisting fiercely. Sources said the two sides were discussing a “midpoint” compromise of around 6 per cent.

That would represent a political victory for Dr Fox but would still leave the Services facing painful losses.

The Royal Navy could lose its amphibious landing capability, meaning Britain would be unable to mount another campaign like that in the Falklands. The future of Harrier and Tornado jets also hangs in the balance. Navy insiders said cutting the Harriers would mean that Britain’s first new aircraft carrier would enter service in 2016 with no British aircraft to fly from it.

The heads of the Navy, Army and RAF went to No 10 last night for private meetings with the Prime Minister to warn of the “serious consequences” of the Treasury plan.

“The PM should be aware that the cuts the Treasury is looking for are ridiculous,” said a senior military source. William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, tried to play down US fears, insisting: “We will remain a very serious country in defence matters.”

Figures released by the National Audit Office today, show that the "black hole" in the MoD's equipment budget ballooned by £3.3 billion in the final 12 months of the Labour government.

The NAO blamed a failure to set "realistic" budgets, resulting in a "mismatch" between the MoD's planned expenditure and its forecast funding by the Treasury.

Dr Fox said the cost over-runs were "the direct result of the incompetence of ministers" in the former government.

The decision to delay construction work on the new carriers has added £650m to their final cost, taking the eventual bill to £5.9billion, the watchdog said.

A £2.7billion increase in the cost of Typhoon jets was caused by a decision to buy 16 additional aircraft, in order to meet international obligations to Germany, Italy and Spain.