Claire Perry MP questions the Prime Minister at the Strategic Defence and Security Review

At 15:30 today the Prime Minister delivered the Strategic Defence and Security Review and this was followed by a briefing session for MPs with Dr. Liam Fox, the Secretary of State for Defence. After questioning the Prime Minister and Dr. Fox, Claire Perry, MP for the Devizes Constituency commented:

"Today we heard how Britain's Armed Forces will be shaped going forward and how the overspend left by the last government will be tackled. There was much to welcome, including the better-than-expected financial settlement for the Ministry of Defence, the Government's determination to ensure that our troops serving in Afghanistan receive all that they need in terms of equipment and support (including a doubling of operational allowances) and the retention of all 36 Infantry Battalions. However, after my questions to both the PM and the Secretary of State, it is clear that we need to know more detail the on spending cuts, such as the plans for civil servant redundancies and the changes to Armed Forces allowances before we can assess the full local impact of the decisions. I can confirm, however, that local capital projects, including the Tidworth Recovery Centre, will be delivered as promised."

Key SDSR Announcements:
1.The previous government left a "black hole" of over £38 billion over the next 10 years in the Defence budget.
2.Labour's legacy ensured that the top 15 equipment programmes are £8.8 billion over budget and have a cumulative delay of 32 years
3.Defence spending will be cut by 7.5%, lower than expected relative to other government departments
4.All 36 Infantry Battalions will be kept
5.There is no change planned to Army Units deployed in Afghanistan
6.A Defence Reform Review is being carried out to restructure the MoD and overhaul the procurement process, and the Government plans to cut civil servant numbers by 25,000 (out of 82,000) by 2015

Back to all posts