The new governments defence team has been assembled and are settling in their jobs, they have a difficult challenge and expectations.
The team has some real military experience as well, which makes a refreshing change and bodes well.
This is just a gentle reminder of what they said whilst on the opposition benches.
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Dr Liam Fox MP, Secretary of State for Defence
We have 99,000 people in the Army and 85,000 civilians in the MoD. Some things will have to change – and believe me, they will
With headline equipment programmes utterly unmatched by funding, future defence procurement becomes little more than a child’s wish list to Santa Claus.
The defence and security of the United Kingdom is increasingly being run on a wing and a prayer and, as the money has failed to materialise for the unfunded projects, so they are delayed and delayed with the taxpayer left to foot the bill and the military left to ponder their absent capabilities.
This has led many to believe that we have to choose between fighting the war or a war-but this is a false dichotomy.
Saying that we can only focus on the war at the expense of a war is not good enough for the British people and would be an easy way out for any government whose first and foremost responsibility is the defence of the realm.
You can delegate authority, but not responsibility. Labour Ministers are to blame for the failings at the Ministry of Defence – not the Civil Service or the Armed forces.
This is a government willing to spend £12.5bn on a pointless VAT cut, but not to maintain the capability of our Armed Forces.
And why are we reducing minehunter capacity when tension in the Gulf is rising? We need to maintain that capacity at a time when there are tensions over what Iran intends to do
Mr Nick Harvey MP, Minister of State for the Armed Forces
It is exasperating to learn how pervasive the culture of denial and deception among MoD officials is when it comes to acknowledging the £21 billion funding gap in defence procurement
This is yet another example of the Government making empty promises to our Armed Forces. The brave men and women who have risked life and limb in service of our country deserve better
Mine detection equipment is clearly a vital capability in Afghanistan. With IEDs now the biggest single threat our troops are facing, any failure to provide them with enough metal detectors is simply unforgivable
Our brave service men and women have suffered enough as a result of this Government’s disastrous record on military procurement.
The Government has presided over a decade of overstretch and spiralling costs without being straight with the public about the consequences
If the Government is not prepared to resource our commanders properly, it should not be putting troops on the front line
It is painfully obvious that when our frontline troops are desperately short of helicopters and airlift, we should not be pushing ahead with the costly, Cold War irrelevances of Trident and Eurofighter
These aircraft are unnecessary Cold War relics. The Government has put Britain in a position where we are being forced to throw money at this massively expensive project while our troops on the front line are crying out for the helicopters and armoured vehicles they desperately need
While there is a need for modernisation of our reserve forces, any cut in numbers could be like a slap in the face considering the massive contribution they have made
It is a dereliction of the duty of care owed to our service personnel and their families that they should have to face a battle over good standard accommodation on the home front
It beggars belief that the MoD can blow so much on poor project management while our troops are risking their lives because of a lack of armoured vehicles and helicopters
This report shows that the MoD is riddled with incompetence
The MoD’s Defence Planning Assumptions have been operating in a parallel universe for many years now
When the Government’s terrible record on major IT projects is brought together with the MoD’s catalogue of failure on procurement, it is no surprise that we see this perfect storm of incompetence
On this occasion, the lions in Afghanistan have been failed by the donkeys in Whitehall
We must be sure that an economic downturn does not water down the support to the military particularly at a time of heightened threats
Mr Gerald Howarth MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Defence
It is critical that the UK maintains an air superiority fighter aircraft, without which ground forces are potentially extremely vulnerable, as we saw in the Falklands campaign.
I say to the Foreign Secretary that the Almighty is not the only person who could remove Mr. Mugabe; the Special Air Service could also do a pretty good job
Mr Andrew Robathan MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Defence
People serving now are in unbelievably dangerous conditions and are in need of a supportive Government. In my view, Labour failed to stand up for the armed forces and that has to change
At the moment, processes within the MoD are slow and inefficient. My colleagues and I will be looking to transform that
God luck chaps
Fox sounds like Gates. Much sense here.
“I say to the Foreign Secretary that the Almighty is not the only person who could remove Mr. Mugabe; the Special Air Service could also do a pretty good job.”
…That man is a legend.
I’d like to remind Gerald Howarth MP that the SAS are not assassins, and the invasion of Iraq should be a constant reminder of the dangers of getting involved in regime change, whatever the reasons and however distasteful that regime may be.
I’m sure the people of Zimbabwe would shower British troops with flower petals as they drove through Harare. But then that’s what the Bush administration thought would happen in Iraq.