Extract from Lords debate on the Queen's Speech - Oct 15
Wednesday, 16 October 2019 08:33
Lord Craig of Radley (CB):...My Lords, our current front line lacks
resilience, with too few fighting ships, inadequate numbers of
operational aircraft and reduced army manning—a legacy of years of
underfunding. Our forces have not been exposed to serious enemy
capability in conflict, nor experienced significant losses in men
and materiel, since the Falklands conflict nearly 40 years ago. We
had resilience then: sufficient strength in depth to cope, and to
fight the first Gulf conflict in...Request free trial
(CB):...My Lords, our
current front line lacks resilience, with too few fighting ships,
inadequate numbers of operational aircraft and reduced army
manning—a legacy of years of underfunding. Our forces have not been
exposed to serious enemy capability in conflict, nor experienced
significant losses in men and materiel, since the Falklands
conflict nearly 40 years ago. We had resilience then: sufficient
strength in depth to cope, and to fight the first Gulf conflict in
1991 with sizeable forces—now way beyond our reach. Resilience in
conventional power is gone. If the credibility of our nuclear
deterrent is to stand, conventional forces must have hitting power
and sustainability to first resist aggression and demonstrate
national resolve. Without this, the Prime Minister would face the
starkest of choices: rapidly to go nuclear or to surrender. I
therefore welcome the uplift in the defence budget, but it must be
sustained and increased...
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