Election 2010 – Defence Manifesto (Labour Party)
You can download the whole document here
Tucked away on page 66 of a total of 76 pages were find the section on ‘A Global Future’
Headlining the goals are
- Conduct a Strategic Defence Review to equip our Armed Forces for 21st Century challenges, and support our troops and veterans.
- Use our international reach to build security and stability – combating terrorism and extremism, curbing proliferation, preventing and resolving conflict, and tackling climate change.
- Lead the agenda for an outward-facing European Union that delivers jobs, prosperity and global influence.
- Re-energise the drive to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, supporting sustainable growth and combating poverty.
- Reform the UN, International Financial Institutions, the G8 and G20, and NATO to adapt to the new global challenges.
All laudable stuff, along with free beer for all and world peace which might as well be in for all the good it will do.
Some other highlights that jump out upon a skim read are;
Afghanistan
We have met every request for extra equipment for Afghanistan
Oh really…
In the last 4 years we have doubled the number of helicopters
Despite increasing the troop numbers threefold in the same period
£1.7billion on 1,800 new vehicles including the Mastiff
The Mastiff was procured for Iraq, so were many of those ,1800 vehicles and the very fact that we needed so many because the kit we had was rubbish is a national disgrace. 1,800 new vehicles included things like Quad Bikes and the Vector. Record time, whose record is that then?
Our forces are working a clear strategy
After several years of strategic dithering
Strengthening our Armed Forces
Defence spending has increased by ten percent in real terms since 1997
Is anyone actually certain what real terms means, defence inflation, government bungling, enduring operations and increasing welfare costs (from an all time low) have absorbed all of the increase.
Funding for Iraq and Afghanistan is in addition to that
In the fantasy land of resource allocation and shifting wooden dollars around various accounting silos maybe, in the real world the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have undoubtedly impacted the wider defence community budgets.
A Strategic Defence Review will look at all areas of defence. We are committed to a strong Navy based on the new aircraft carriers, an Air Force with two state-of-the-art fast-jet fleets as well as additional helicopters, transport planes and unmanned drones, and a strong, high-tech Army, vastly better equipped than it was in 1997
A strategic defence review that look at all areas of defence, except that is, UAS, CVF and JCA. Isn’t that what is called ‘pre empting the result’
We are reforming defence procurement, making further reductions in civilian staff, and cutting lower-priority spending on headquarters costs, travel and consultancy
Please see the 1998 SDR, Chapter 8, Smart Procurement
All governments have been reforming defence procurement, perhaps that is part of the problem, constant change. As our post on MoD civilians pointed out, they are cheaper than service personnel and reducing numbers simply results in those posts being outsourced or contractorised at even greater cost. Bashing those MoD civil servants looks good though.
Reversing decades of neglect in armed forces accommodation
One of those decades coinciding with the Labour Party being in power, having to be shamed in doing something by adverse media reporting and most of the work is being carried out under various PFI schemes which are generally accepted to be poor value for money
The Army Recovery Centre will continue to offer world beating support
The very same ARC’s that are part funded by the Help for Heroes charity
…
I lost the will to carry on after that but don’t worry everyone, Labour are proposing a European Peace Corps to energise young people and show a commitment to global peace and justice.
8 comments
Post your own
Peter Arundel, of course you are right. That’s what is so frustrating. I guess one of this website’s aims is to improve the awareness and hence the funding for Defence, but its a bit like p***ing in the wind.
All I would say is that UKIP are the only party who are saying what I want to here, and not just on Defence. Yes they will not form a government, which is a problem with our electoral system. The majority of people in the Contyry could actually want to vore and indeed vote UKIP or Lib Dem for that matter but they want win!!!
The real question is… How to raise defence in the public Consciousness????
UKIP are looking like my preferred party at this time they are even offering real change and by allowing and supporting other party’s euro sceptics they seem to be not so partisan. They seem to be willing to do what they see as best for the nation rather than best for their party unlike LIB LAB CON. Who knows what this election will bring but I am hopeful for some cage rattling with BNP and UKIP MP’s being elected to mix things up never mind the massive renewal of the members of parliament.
The Conservatives are looking positively Labservative compared to UKIP which seems to be the real Conservative party these days which is not really a good thing if people don’t notice the change. Labour meanwhile are also unsure who they are exactly from Business friendly and a move to the centre to some concerning fascist moves such as identity cards and changes to the law after 9/11 and 7/7.
Ooo! politics. :|
I don’t want to sound like an apologist for New Labour but I doubt that the armed forces would have done any better under any other party’s rule. Defence is a sector that is ignored, cut back and ‘streamlined’ (ie cut back) by whoever is in power – until there is a crisis, of course . . . Remember 1982? Remember who was cutting defence spending before the Falklands were invaded?
I’m not going to point at any one party and say “They’re the ones to vote for if we want a properly equipped and funded armed forces” because none of them can afford, politically or financially, to take money away from Health, Education, Transport or anything else that affects the Man on The Street directly in order to buy more Chinooks and the pilots to fly them.
UKIP can promise what they like because they know they aren’t going to form a government.
I reckon Paddy Ashdown would have been a good choice for PM but, like UKIP, the Lib Dems will never form a government! :-)
To coin a phrase my mum likes to use. Liarbour are “Strangers to the Truth” aka lying bastards!!!
Just seen the UKIP take on Defence, which went alomg the lines of Army increased by 40%, Navy to pre 1990s levels and more combat aircraft for the brillcream boys oops… and girls.
Now that’s more like it.
This is nothing new, when in doubt, promise what you promised last time, is Labours standard procedure at the moment.
I’m simply struggling with how at least 2 (and a half) of these even relate to defence issues? But maybe that’s where they’ve been going wrong all this time – mixing defence and dogooding?
I simply cannot really comment fully apart from to sum it up as a giant sigh or as my math teacher once said to me “That is Grade A Bullshit”
Not that i’m a mistrusting soul, however “vehicles” covers a multitude of areas eg quad bikes could be in there, and i wonder if they have sneaked in the bulldog in those figures.
Doubled the amount of helicopters, my ar$e!! I have to stop grrrr