The issues Britain is facing in getting HMS Dragon to sea, and
more broadly in responding militarily to the Iran crisis, can be
traced back many years according to defence trade union Prospect.
The union, which represents thousands of public and private
sector defence workers, has been highlighting the issues caused
by a recent contract for in-port services between the MOD and
Serco Marine, which has reduced capacity at Portsmouth. However
they argue this is part of a much bigger story about
underinvestment in private and public defence capacity over many
years.
Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy said:
"Our members are working as hard as possible to get HMS Dragon to
sea, and no one should be criticising their commitment to
supporting our armed forces.
"The roots of the problems with the Serco contract go back to a
decade of underinvestment in our military capacity.
"We warned the previous government of the implications their
decisions would have for the Royal Navy in the 2020s. Ultimately
they left our defences in such a state that they will take years
to rebuild.
"There isn't enough kit. What we have often isn't in a fit state
to deploy rapidly. And both public sector and private sector
capacity, for example in ports, has been eroded by years of cuts
and kicking the can down the road on vital procurement decisions.
"Defence has always been delivered by the public sector and
private sector working together. The rebuilding that needs to
happen will rightly involve investment in both."
ENDS
Examples of criticism from Prospect of previous decisions
includes:
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/type-31e-order-must-be-followed-up-by-further-commitments-say-union/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-44949490?app-referrer=deep-link
https://prospect.org.uk/news/prospect-alarmed-at-further-delays-to-type-31e-project
