(Con):...I will touch briefly
on the failings of procurement, which is a subject for further
debates and which, frankly, is a scandal. They are caused in part
by the swift turnover of military personnel, by incoming defence
chiefs always wanting new and expensive additions to equipment to
catch up, and by defence contractors, who can run rings round
civil servants, who know little about industry. My noble friend
got a grip of
this pretty well when he was Defence Secretary, when I was his
Minister for the Armed Forces, but, sadly, it appears to be out
of control again: witness the AJAX debacle.
There is huge waste, which is to the detriment of our defence
budget and operational efficiency...
(CB):...The
Chancellor, , in a previous incarnation said
that we must “get real” about the need to invest in the Armed
Forces and recognise that the first duty of a Government is
always to keep their people safe. He pledged support for an
increase to 3% of GDP. What is the Government’s formal position
on that? We look forward to hearing from the Minister when she
comes to reply. France, Germany, Japan and the US have set out
their plans to significantly increase spending. When does the
Minister anticipate that what the Treasury has described as a
“long dialogue” that is “nowhere near a conclusion” will be
finalised? What is her assessment of the consequences for
procurement of a weakened pound and high inflation?
Hopefully, Mr. Wallace says that
“we have started to upgrade our Challenger tanks,
get AJAX armoured
vehicles back on track and purchase upgraded Apache
helicopters.”
I hope the Minister will also enlarge on this. I have regularly
raised questions about the AJAX programme.
It has been delayed for 10 years and cost taxpayers some £5
billion so far. Hundreds of soldiers had to be treated for
exposure to high noise after working on trials. The House of
Commons Public Accounts Committee has described AJAX as
“a litany of failures” and “flawed from the outset”, and said
that these failures had put national security at risk. Can the
Minister spell out how it has been put “back on track”, when it
will be available to use, and how the AJAX experience
is now influencing procurement policy, not least in the light of
the criticisms of the report of the National Audit Office last
year?
For context, OPEN HERE
